Burn
by DarkElements10
Summary: SEQUEL TO FRICTION. Barry's time in the SpeedForce has ended and he needs to come to grips to what's changed complete with a villain who is always one step ahead. As the new leader of Team Flash, Cadence struggles with her own demons from Barry's absence, truly understanding what it means to be powerless. Then they find themselves at the top of a metahuman hit list. –S4- Barry/OC
1. Prologue

**Burn**

**By: Riley**

**Full Summary \- **SEQUEL TO FRICTION. Barry's six month absence within the SpeedForce has ended and he needs to come to grips to what's changed since he's been gone. The team that used to have his back has fallen apart and are struggling to get back to where they used to be. Add in a villain who is always one step ahead of him, and Barry has a lot on his mind and can hardly keep up. Since Breathaker's fall and Savitar's destruction Cadence is the new leader of Team Flash and is struggling with her own demons in Barry's absence and his subsequent return. After an encounter with new anti-meta tech, she truly understands what it means to be powerless. Then they find their names at the top of a hit list of metas that have slowly been disappearing. –S4- Barry/OC

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

_My name is Cadence Nash and I'm a fire metahuman._

Cadence took a deep breath, steadying her muscles the best she could. Turned them to steel, strong enough to hold her up. She tightened her grasp on the bar in her hand, pulled herself up in a pull up, then exploded her arms upwards, away from her chest. The bar in her hands shot up and backward by the pull of her hand, before slamming forward once more, landing on the next peg of the salmon ladder she hung from.

_Years ago, I did some terrible things, things that I was brainwashed into doing and things I did all on my own. To help me and my son survive. I did it while putting on the front that I was an ordinary teen mother, working her way through school, working to become a doctor so I could give my son a better life. But day after day, I'd find myself sucked back in with the same people that made me hate life._

She released all the tension in her muscles, allowing herself to dangle from the bar. Her body gently swayed back and forth, readying her body the next explosion of power. She made sure not to use her powers so much, or else it would've been a simple trek up and down the salmon ladder. She didn't want things to be easy. Not when it was hard work that produced results.

Cadence let out her deep breath at the same time she exploded the bar upwards once more, bringing her knees to her chest, crunching her core, and extended her body once more, moving the bar one rung higher. And did it once more, this time crossing her feet at the ankles to pull herself into a pull up.

_The Assassination Bureau controlled me until I was able to break free. Until, with the help of the Flash, I broke free from the strings that Breathtaker kept on me. To release myself from everything they held over my head. Since then, I've tried to atone for everything that I've done with them. Starting as a Medical Examiner with the CCPD, I now work at the CCPD with Child Protective Services to keep the children of Central City, those that are powerless to get themselves out of their situations safe. I, especially, look for kids who are metas, to help them in ways I haven't been helped._

Flames started to flicker from Cadence's hands as she gripped the bar even harder. Any other bar would've melted beneath her hands, sinking her fingertips into the metal like butter. She gripped it even tighter, feeling the pain shoot through her palms. Up through her fingers, making her hands quake with effort to hold herself upright.

_I've been working with The Flash to right the wrongs in Central City and protect those that are powerless to protect themselves. And I won't stop until everyone is safe. I do it with our team at STAR Labs. Our numbers may have dwindled, we lost the heart of our team, Caitlin, but we're still doing what we can. Wally, Cisco, and me. But we hope that Caitlin comes back to us, just like we hope Barry does._

Rung after rung after rung, she moved herself upwards. Giving herself a few seconds to collect herself before shooting it once more. Making it to the top, she swung herself up so that her body was in a straight line above the bar, creating the shape of a 'T' as she held onto it. Her arms quivered but didn't buckle as she held herself upright before slowly moving herself up and down, doing upside-down pushups.

_I was supposed to marry the fastest man alive. The best man I've ever known. The beacon of hope that continues to inflate Central City, even in his absence. His memory keeps us going. Because six months ago…he left._

When she finished her pushups, she allowed her body to drop and swung her legs up between her arms, circling her knees around the bar. Slowly, very slowly she let go of the bar and extended her body, holding her weight by her knees before doing a series of sit-ups, twisting back and forth when her upper body reached her knees. Then she leaned back and did it all over again.

One her last sit up, she swung her body forward, releasing her legs from the bar so that she flipped to the ground, landing on the balls of her feet. She sank back to her heels, wiping sweat off her palms on the sides of her legs.

_He made me promise not to wait for him. That promised I'd run and keep running. And that's what I've been doing these last six months._

Cadence grabbed her towel and flung it over her shoulder. She walked out of the training room, the door slamming shut behind her with a resounding thud.

_Running, as fast as I can._

* * *

**A/N: **And for once, I started out with a prologue rather than an actual chapter! I hope it got you guys interested in what will happen with the story, especially with the hints as to how Cade has changed since the last story.

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. I hope you all enjoy _Burn _as you have with the rest of the Flash and the Flame series. If there's anything in particular you'd like to see more of in this story, let me know. Also, depending on how some things go, this story may move up to an 'M' rating. Be sure to favorite and alert the story (or my profile) to make sure you always see when it's updated.

I hope to update again soon.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	2. Upside Down and Inside Out

**01**

_Upside Down and Inside Out_

* * *

Wally West streaked through the city, zig-zagging through the streets whenever something would come into his path. Wally pumped his arms back and forth as he went, twisting his head, almost like a pendulum, as he passed each cross street. A new street would come up and he'd flick his head back and forth to find his target.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Still nothing.

Sighing, he brought a hand up to his lightning bolt ear piece and gasped, "I can't find her, Cisco." The run wasn't taxing, it was the sheer desperation to find her that was. The longer she stayed out of custody, the more havoc she could wreak on the city.

So, Wally continued to run, waiting for Cisco's Ramon's response. He received it when a breach suddenly opened in front of him, threatening to release Wally into whatever dimension or placement in the city he was about to be thrust into. Wally cried out in surprise, a mixture between a 'yikes' and a strangled 'aaargh' and twisted around before he shot directly through it, ending up who knows where.

Cisco popped out of the breach in a sweeping bound, leaning over to press his hands to his knees. He gasped for air, sucking in a huge, ecohing 'eeeh' of a wheeze before he straightened himself. "Man, I've gotta work out more," Cisco hissed between his teeth, pressing a hand to his stomach. He feebly gestured in front of him. "She's really stepped up her game."

A revving engine caught his attention. Cisco looked over his shoulder before leaping out of the way of a speeding black car that was seconds away from mowing him down. Behind the wheel, Joe West smiled, eyes filled with mirth hidden behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses. "Then let's turn ours up," he commented. His eyes searched the street before him. "I don't have eyes on her. Cadence?"

Cadence tilted her head, watching the city below her from her perch at the highest point in the city. Her favorite part of the city. Just like the panning shots of cityscapes in movies, it gave her the best view of the city she'd grown to call home more than her actual hometown. Watched as the cars, as tiny as scuttling bugs, zipped through the city streets. Watched as the even tinnier residents of the city went along with their day.

She surveyed the scene in front of her, eyebrows twitched as, in the distance, she noticed a sudden flash of red-orange light that was shaped like a contorted human. Heat vision that tracked the movement of whomever she wanted. It didn't take long, this meta didn't try to hide for too long.

Not like all the others. Every other meta they'd ever come up against, gone against, had put into the Pipeline were gone and made sure they kept themselves unknown. Their pods in the pipeline had kept them safe from the blast of the Philosopher's Stone but had been heavily damaged. Enough so that they were able to escape.

"Got her," Cadence said after a second. She then tilted her head, eyebrows coming together when she noticed the squiggly blob suddenly change direction. "Duck."

Wally and Cisco exchanged a confused glance. Slowly, Wally pressed his finger into the lightning bolt once more, scanning the street. "I don't see no duck." The words barely escaped his lips before Wally was knocked to the ground by a hard punch to the back, Cisco falling along with him seconds later.

They rolled onto their back, turning to see Peek-A-Boo standing above them, hitching her bag up her shoulder. The smirk on her face melted into a snarl before she turned and teleported away.

Wally rolled to his back, groaning. "She meant the _other_ duck."

"You think?" Cisco slowly got to his feet. With both of his hands, he pushed his hair back behind his ears. The long strands, though working well for his aesthetic, was certainly something he'd have to re-think when in battle. If the difference between getting himself across the city and accidentally launching himself into the sun was a strand of hair, he'd figure something out.

"Where is she now?" Joe pulled hard on the wheel, tires spinning and emitting a high-pitched squeal as he took a corner. With his police siren blaring, cars on either side of the road stopped or raced out of the way.

"Headed for the Keystone bridge." Cadence shook her head. She shrugged, letting her shoulders rise and fall in a movement of nonchalance. It didn't matter much to her if they got her or not. Things were going to work out one way or another. Nevertheless, her tone took on a teasing, "If you guys don't stop her now we'll lose her for good," as she started to pace the rooftop.

A heavy, frustrated sigh came from behind her, making her turn her head, jaw resting on her shoulder to place her gaze on her son, Brady, and his friend and Leah Brooklyn. They sat on the rooftop, lounging quietly. Leah rested back on one hand, the other twisted her blonde hair around her finger, the ringlets growing tighter as the seconds passed. Brady held his chin in his hands, blowing raspberries with his lips as he heaved another sigh.

Noticing his mother's gaze on him, Brady perked up, an apologetic expression coming to his face as he asked, "Can we go yet?"

"Yeah." Leah lowered her chin, nose wrinkling. "This is starting to get boring." She dropped her finger from her hair, causing the ringlet to bounce back in a curl.

"Not yet, you have to give them their chance," Cadence chided them. She waved a hand. "You've already had yours."

"Yeah, and we stopped them ages ago," Brady declared.

Cadence smiled. "Give them time."

Brady and Leah tilted their heads, letting their groans reach the sky. On the streets below, Wally took off after Peek-A-Boo with a declaration of, "Oh, I'm going to catch her this time."

Cisco continued to catch his breath, leaning forward to rest his hands on his knees. When he was finally able to speak he said, "I hate teleporters."

"I heard that," Cadence sing-songed.

Wally chased after Peek-A-Boo as she teleported from rooftop to rooftop, keeping on her as she moved every few seconds. And still, she managed to evade every attempt Wally had to take her down.

Cadence continued to watch, silently keeping track, in her head, of how long they were taking. "She jumps to every third rooftop," Cadence helped. "She's going to jump to the broom tower. So when she lands, stop her. Joe, meet them at the bottom. Wally—"

"—I'm on it," Wally said.

Cisco thrust out his hand, freezing Peek-A-Boo in the air, with the other hand, he opened a breach. Wally sped up behind her and tackled her into the breach. Cisco turned and leapt through the breach after them. When they landed, Cisco and Wally fell to the ground, giving Peek-A-Boo the chance to take out her weapons and point it toward them.

"You lose," she sing-songed, seconds before getting struck by lightning that dropped her to the ground, revealing Joe standing behind her with a large, canon-like gun in his hands.

Cadence smiled, dropping her hand from her ear. Looks like Cisco's newest invention was working better than ever. "Great job, guys. You finally got her'," she said.

"I heard that," Cisco said back. "Don't think I didn't hear you say 'finally'. Don't think I didn't hear you throw that in there. I don't know if you've noticed, but teleporters can be a big pain the ass."

Leah giggled quietly, moving her hands to cover her mouth when Cadence's eyebrows lifted in amusement. Brady lifted his hood from his forehead and smirked. "Back to STAR Labs?" He guessed.

"Back to STAR Labs," Cadence replied. Brady and Leah got to their feet, brushing off their clothes as Cadence turned to look over Central City. The sprawling landscape of the metropolitan city that she loved so much.

It was safe for another day.

She turned back to the young pre-teens and placed her hands on their shoulders, teleporting them to Level 600 of STAR Labs, the main floor of their base of operations. She motioned for Brady and Leah to change out of their suits, going to the elevator to wait for the others. Cadence brushed her hair back fro her face as she waited, watching the light above the elevator bank illuminate to show the elevator's arrival. She could hear Wally's and Cisco's voices before the doors opened to reveal them and Joe.

"I'm so proud of us," Cisco said as soon as the doors opened. "That was good hustle out there Team Vibe."

"It's Team Kid Flash," Wally quickly corrected. He patted Cisco on the shoulder, flashing a charming smile. "But you're right."

Cadence shook her head. She hated to burst their bubble but…no, the smile on her face was unable to be contained. She _really _wanted to burst their bubble. "Well, that wasn't the _best _work out there for you guys," She said diplomatically, falling into step with them as they went to the Cortex. Brady and Leah looked over at the group, their smug smiles unable to be contained. Cadence noticed and shot them a warning look; they wiped the smiles off their faces but returned them when she turned her back.

"What are you looking at me, for?" Joe asked, suddenly sounding more like a young adult than a police detective. "I was the one who put her down."

"And I was the one who helped out with the assist," Cisco added. "A classic maneuver if I do say so myself." He pressed a hand to his chest and leaned over to look at Wally, silently asking for backup with a lift of his eyebrows. "And it went exactly according to plan."

"_Exactly _according to plan," Wally agreed.

"Absolutely, according to plan."

"Are you just going to repeat yourselves until you start to believe it?" Leah asked.

Brady clasped his hands together. "If by proving that you're out of shape, then yes, I think that's what went according to the plan," Brady piped up, drawing Cisco's glare his way. Brady held up his hands defensively. "Hey, you were the one who was saying you need to work out more."

"And if Miss. Cadence's every day workouts aren't helping, I don't know what will," Leah added.

Cadence smiled, lowering her gaze toward the ground when Cisco made a sound of offense. "Joe, tell the peanut gallery how this went exactly how we planned, Peek-A-Boo fell right into our trap."

"I'm not telling them that," Joe said. He held up his hands, taking a step back. "This is all you. You were the one who almost let her get away."

"And," Iris announced her presence, turning from the monitor hanging on the wall of the Cortex. "You're not exactly catching bad guys at our old rate. Every other person we've managed to capture over the last few weeks has gotten away."

"Okay, sis, you have a point." Wally draped his arm across Iris's shoulders, hugging his sister to his side. "But you have to give props to Team Kid Flash." He threw a wink to his sister, the sort of wink that he'd throw to any admiring fans he may or may not come across while in the field. "We're on the case."

"'Son, I love you, but ain't nobody feeling Team Kid Flash."

"Too many syllables," Cisco agreed.

Cadence smiled, rubbing her forehead. Her smile stayed on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, guys, I need you to take this seriously," she said. The Cortex grew silent. "You did a good job today in catching her, but she's not going to be the last to come around. We're the ones who are here to protect this city. Because there's no one else to do it. I want you to think about what happened today and how to improve for next time. Like always, alright?"

They nodded.

Cadence then nodded towards Wally. "I programmed a new training simulation for you in the Speed Lab. It shouldn't take more than four hours."

Wally's eyes widened in surprise. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to find the wrods before they finally bubbled up. "Four hours?" Wally repeated.

"We're doing family dinner tonight," Iris protested.

"I said it won't take _more_ than four hours," Cadence repeated patiently. "Knowing Wally, he's going to try and beat his old record, so it shouldn't take any longer than two." She held up her fingers to make a 'V' making Wally smile. "Make sure to clock your time before you go," she added. "Great job today, you guys."

"Alright," Joe said, motioning toward Iris to follow him. "Then we'll see you later,"

"Hey, you better save me some of that Peking Duck this time," Wally said, giving his sister a pointed stare.

Iris shrugged, folding her arms. "I can't make any promises. You know I love me some Peking Duck."

"And so does Cecile and she eats like a—" Wally cut himself off, noticing Joe's glare his way.

Brady grinned, patting Wally on the shoulder. "Quit while you're behind, dude. You're not going to dig yourself out of this one."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Wally agreed. He pointed over his shoulder, backing away. "Training sounds good right about now." And he disappeared in a flash of red light.

Leah nudged Brady and he turned to his mother with an earnest glance. "What about us?" He asked. "Can we—"

"—Yes, you're done for the day, you can go hang out now," Cadence explained, making the two pre-teens cheer and high-five. "I'll see you for dinner." She pressed a kiss to the side of his head, making him blush and turn away. "Don't forget your dad's got you tomorrow. And you better finish your homework tonight. I don't want to write a note again."

"I won't! Bye, mom." Brady pecked his mother on the cheek. "Oh, um." He snapped his fingers, pointed at her. "Can Leah,"—Leah nudged him and he rolled his eyes—"And Alicia," he grumbled. "Come over for dinner?"

Cadence lifted an eyebrow. "What? Do I have _Home For Wayward Youths _tattooed across my forehead?" She leaned back when Brady leaned toward her. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for it," he replied.

Cadence placed her hand against his face and pushed him away. "I'll think about it. Go away before I change my mind."

Brady grasped Leah's wrist. He phased the two through the floor of the Cortex. It didn't take longer than a few seconds before the sound of an engine revving started up and the alarm of a garage door opening sounded through the Cortex.

"Hey!" Cisco shouted. He raced to the control panel that held all their computers and slapped his palm onto the intercom button. His voice rang out through the communications system. "What did I tell you about misusing STAR Labs equipment?" But his cry fell on deaf ears, fading with the sound of the fading engine. "I never should've given him the capability of making that thing invisible, too."

"Yeah, it probably wasn't your best idea," Cadence agreed.

Cisco managed a small smile before then sighed quietly. He took off his goggles and placed them on his computer desk. Gently tapping the arm of it against the desk, he sank into his seat, rocking back and forth, as if trying to keep his eyes from going elsewhere.

Cadence tilted her head, watching her friend. Finally, she said, "You look like you have something to say," She said.

"Just thinking," Cisco defended himself. But the speed of his response as well as the high-pitched tone his voice took proved otherwise.

She hummed quietly then folded her arms. "About?" Cadence pressed.

"About how we'd be a lot better off if we weren't one man down," he admitted, unzipping his jacket to place on the back of his chair.

Cadence smiled. _You're not the only one who thinks so, _she thought before she walked around the desk and pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Enjoy the rest of your night, Cisco." She said to him. "We'll regroup tomorrow."

Cisco raised his eyebrows. "Are we not going out tonight?"

"By your tone, it didn't sound like you _wanted_ to go out," Cadence teased, jostling him with a light shove to the shoulder. Cisco stayed in place, despite her not using all her strength to push him. All his hard work in their training was really starting to pay off.

"Hey, I'll use any excuse to get my drink on," Cisco said. "And to have a good night on the town."

Cadence beamed. "We'll meet in an hour, I need to stop back by my place for a bit and then I can meet you there."

"Sounds good." She started to walk away, but Cisco's earnestly quiet question of, "You sure you're doing okay?" halted her in her tracks. Was she doing okay? Was she doing okay after her boyfriend-fiancé sacrificed himself to what many people would consider the impossible? Was she okay with the longer drawn out moments of time that seemed would never end as they waited for his return? She shrugged. "I'm doing fine," she said honestly. "I mean, other than the pressure of Julian moving back to London and the crime lab being short-staffed—"

"They want to hire someone to replace him?" Cisco asked. His eyebrows came together when Cadence nodded. "I thought Captain Singh was waiting for him to get back."

"He was. But it's only a matter of time until they stop believe his being on sabbatical." Cadence sucked in a breath between her teeth and chuckled as she said, "The Czech Republic might not have been a good choice for his location."

"'It was the first thing I could come up with on short notice," Cisco defended himself. "Do you _really _think Captain Singh would check up on that?"

Cadence bobbed her head, letting out a quiet sigh. She'd gone most of the day without mentioning Barry or even thinking about him since leaving the apartment that morning. And one quick thought was all it took to take the wind out of her sails. It was a struggle with Barry being gone. He wasn't just the beacon of hope for Central City, but for their team and they were struggling.

Cadence tried hard to keep moving forward, to handle things in his absence. It made sense she took on being the leader of Team Flash, but all the same it was tough shoes to fill. She didn't have the same level of intelligence as the rest of the team but had the increase in power to handle things by herself. And she could. Since experiencing the Fire Fall for the first time, she felt nothing but an increase in her power level. Nevertheless, she put the others out in the field more often, giving them the opportunity to become strong as well.

Or, maybe, she couldn't face being in the field by herself.

The thought screeched into her head so fast that, combined with the worried look Cisco was giving her, Cadence immediately felt annoyed. Went on the offense. "What? Do you expect me to curl up in a ball and cry all day? And maybe I did for the first week or so, but it's gotten easier. I grieve on my own time and until we find a body to bury, I'm not going to entertain the idea that he's actually gone. He's in the Speed Force, Cisco, not floating around in space."

"They may as well be the same thing," Cisco admitted.

"True." Cadence grinned, closing an eye in a cheeky expression. "But I think space is a little more overrated."

Cisco laughed. "Don't let Barry hear you say that," he warned.

Cadence laughed as well. "I won't."

"I'll see you in an hour."

"See you."

Cadence waved as Cisco opened a breach and jumped through. Alone in the Cortex, she walked around, turning off the lights one by one—making sure the computers, at least, stayed on. Once finished, she changed back into her street clothes then teleported around the corner of her apartment. She slowed herself to a casual stroll through the lobby to wave to those in the leasing office before going to the elevators. A shorter trip than what her teleportation could bring, but it'd be less suspicious than the front office getting rent checks from the apartment and not see its residents come or go.

Less of a chance of being visited by CPS herself once more. Even lesser of a chance of being seen as neglectful. Things had been quiet and she wanted to keep it that way.

Entering the apartment, Cadence flipped on the light to the living room, jumping when she saw a head pop out from overtop the couch. Bringing a hand to her chest, Cadence said, "I thought you'd be going out with Brady and Leah."

Connor Hawke shook his head, sitting up amongst the blankets and pillows on the couch. The flickering of the TV bathed him in a swatch of bright blue light. "I didn't really feel like it," he mumbled, voice barely moving above a whisper.

Cadence could sympathize. He didn't really feel like doing much within the last few weeks of being in Central City. Then again, there was only so many times you could be taken out of Star City when your Mayor Dad got to be too busy…and conclusively tried a bit too hard in the father aspect when he _was _around. Only so much you could do when you had no choice but to live with your Mayor Dad and be moved around so much because it was 'safer'.

Try explaining that to an eleven-year-old who just wanted a normal life.

"Are you sure?" Cadence pressed, walking around to the front of the couch to lean on the armrest. "I mean, I understand the appeal of wanting to sit around and eat ice cream all day, believe me I've done that plenty of times when my horse was sick and even at the mere thought of my mom coming to see me." Conner smiled a little. "But gaining ten pounds after is never worth it."

Connor gave her a funny look. "You never even gain a pound."

"That's what you think," Cadence replied. She reached out and ruffled his hair. "Just don't get sucked into too much mindless TV or Oliver will kill me." She paused, noticing the hurt that flashed through Connor's eyes as he ducked his head. "Sorry, Con. Wrong choice of words."

"It's okay," he mumbled. He pressed his lips together, raising his eyebrows. His voice turned more lighthearted as he asked, "Are you going out?"

"I am in a few minutes."

"Have a nice night."

Cadence went to her room and quickly changed into a leather jacket, a cropped red sweater, and dark wash jeans tucked into a pair of boots. After going to the kitchen and ensuring she had everything set up for dinner, she went back to Conner and leaned over, planting a kiss atop Connor's head. "Don't stay up too late," she said. "Brady should be back soon."

"Okay," Conner said, already snuggling himself back into the couch.

Cadence shifted her gaze to the framed photo sitting on the table next to the couch. A photo of Barry that'd been taken the year before in one of their happier moments. He smiled warmly at the camera, caught by the photographer—if she remembered correctly, it was Brady—waiting patiently in line to get into a Central City Diamonds game, evident from the matching hat and jersey he wore.

Smiling wistfully, Cadence blew a kiss to the picture—just as she did every time she left the apartment.

Forty minutes later she met Cisco outside the Saints and Sinners Bar. His head whipped around, studying the faces of each person that passed him. Cadence laughed to herself, walking to him. "You know, you're being really obvious when you do that, right?"

"Hey, I need to make sure of that if anything happens to me, I can ID these clowns," Cisco pointed out. He flinched when a passing man heard his remark and growled at him.

Cadence rolled her eyes, completely ignoring the exchange. "You were the one who said you wanted to come here."

"I know, I know." Cisco looped his arm around her waist before grabbing hers and putting it around his neck. "I saw good reviews on Yelp, you've mentioned this place has some great stuff, and, in return, you get a certified creep-buster by having a fake-date boyfriend for a night."

"Thanks." Cadence giggled, gently squeezing Cisco's shoulder as they went inside.

Cisco led the way through the bar, ignoring the shady clientele that looked their way and headed toward the bar, skirting around pool tables as they went. The bartender had her back toward them, but asked over her shoulder, "What can I get for you?"

"I'd like something sweet," Cisco said in a drawl so slow that Cadence made a face. She leaned away from him, slowly taking in the—was that seductive?—undertone to his voice. Cisco looked at her out the corner of his eye but continued. "Deceptively strong with lots of _ice_."

Caitlin Snow turned around and smiled at them. Cadence pressed her lips together, sitting up straight ton her stool. "A Shirley Temple," she said. "Coming right up." Then she smiled to Cadence. "And what can I get for you?"

Cadence stared back at her. She took in a deep breath, releasing the initial want to curl her hands around the edge of the bar and set it on fire. Instead, she looked back to Cisco and quickly decided. "An Old Fashioned and a Whisky Smash."

"Starting out a bit early tonight, huh?" Caitlin asked, relief coming to her voice.

"Well, you have to when you're under as much stress as me." Cadence leaned forward on her bar stool, looking around the bar then at Caitlin's attire; a white tank top tucked in a pair of jeans, a black bra seen through her top. A far cry from a normal Caitlin Snow outfit. What else had changed in their time apart? Clearly a lot if Caitlin were calmly serving her a drink. Cadence turned a smile to Cisco. "And to think when I worked here I used to only wear a bra."

"For real?" Cisco asked, eyebrows rising in disbelief. Even Caitlin, who was pouring the drinks looked a tiny bit skeptical. If not amused.

"It got me good tips," Cadence said with a defensive shrug. She added, "And some very questionable scars. But there's that," she added with a tip of her head.

Cisco smiled back to Caitlin when she dropped their drinks in front of them. "So, what's a good girl like you—with three doctorates—doing working in a place like this?" He asked her.

"Working," Caitlin said flatly.

Cisco nodded, looking her up and down. "You're looking a lot less frosty now."

"Just me." Caitlin's gaze flickered to Cadence, who stared back at her, narrowing her eyes a fraction.

"How'd you do it?"

Caitlin and Cadence reacted at the same time, taking in sudden, deep breaths. Caitlin, on the other hand, grabbed another glass and furiously cleaned it, giving her something to do, to change the subject. "What do you want?"

"Just to hang out with a friend," Cisco said. "If you're back to normal, how come you haven't come back to us?" Caitlin gave him a look, a sharp glare while Cadence elbowed him in the side. A sharp jab to the ribs. Cisco held out his hands. "Okay, I get it! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Maybe not," Cadence agreed. She moved to get off the stool, stopping only when Caitlin asked, "Barry's still stuck in the speed force?" Cadence slowly, very slowly turned back toward Cadence, staring her down. She gritted her teeth, sucking in a breath between her teeth before asking, "How'd you know about that?"

Caitlin gave a tentative smile. "That's why you came?"

"I think," Cisco said slowly. "I know of a way to bring him back."

* * *

Lightning crackled and swirled around Barry Allen as he strolled through the Speed Force. Thunder boomed in the distance. A storm that could tear anything apart, but hardly registered to him. He simply stood in place, continuing to stare in the same direction he'd been staring for…who knows how long. Seconds, minutes, months, days?

But everything played out before him just the same.

When the Speed Force Storm hit Central City, threatening lives as the lightning fell how he had turned to Cadence and saw her eyes filled with outrage and desperation. Feeling the same thing in his heart but having no means to release it. Cadence had let him go. She knew what had to happen as much as he did. He had to go.

There was no question.

Part of him loved that about her, that she was always willing to make sacrifices for everyone around him. But part of him wished she'd asked him to stay. There was no point—it was probably why she hadn't—but it would've been nice. Nevertheless, Barry did his best not to look back as he raced to the street and willingly walked hand in hand with the Speed Force into what would be his prison.

The Speed Force had to have someone fill the position they left open. And, as Barry understood it, Savitar never existed, they couldn't fill something with nothing. Though Savitar had been killed and dragged back into the Speed Force, if the future had been altered, Savitar wouldn't have been created. Didn't exist.

When Barry first arrived in the Speed Force, there was nothing to do but walk. Walk and explore, figure out what the Speed Force had to show him. What lesson he had to learn. Maybe it would've been like the first time he'd arrived, when the Speed Force took him to the most important places in his life, before being visited by the Speed Force reincarnate. But, no, it hadn't happened that way.

The lightning world continued to expand as the seconds passed. Until, finally, there was nothing but white that engulfed him, leaving Barry alone with the brightness that enveloped him like a hug. He was alone. Except for Savitar.

Savitar didn't seem as surprised to see Barry as Barry was to see Savitar. No, it was like Savitar was waiting for him. He slowly turned his head, far enough so that his scarred eye faced Barry. Barry wasn't sure Savitar could see him—rather than sense him. "What do you want?"

Barry simply gaped back at him. His jaw dropped then slowly closed. He shook his head, dropped himself into a sitting position, suddenly finding his legs trembling as if he'd run a long-distance race without his powers. Maybe that was the point. Maybe being in the Speed Force was made to strip him of his powers this time around. Savitar merely glanced at Barry, watching as he slowly brought his knees up to his chest and warp his arms around them.

Silence stretched between them for a moment. Finally, Barry tipped his head back to look at his doppelganger. "How'd you get here?" Barry asked. "I thought you…I thought we defeated you."

Savitar snorted, shoving his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "You mean, you thought _Black Flash_ defeated me," he remarked. Then he shrugged. "You can't kill what doesn't exist." His upper lip curled into as snarl. "No one wants me to exist, I never got a say in that."

"You never tried," Barry replied calmly. Finally, Savitar turned to face him fully. It still made Barry's heart leap, a tiny flutter of surprise and fear to see his own face staring back at him. A face so scarred and marred by anger and hurt. "You immediately turned and tried to get revenge for something that hadn't happened." Barry licked his lips. "When we talked that night, when I found out who you were, you said you were going to keep it a secret from me, of what you wanted—what you needed. Why you were doing everything."

"I already told you," Savitar droned. "I was the one who you were supposed to be. Who I was supposed to be. The Flash that should've had the life you have now, but later. I was the true Barry Allen that got screwed over because _you_,"—Savitar pointed towards Barry. "Decided to fix things that weren't broken."

Rage filled Barry, making him grit his teeth. The same rage he'd felt when he had police officers look him in the eye and tell him he was mistaken; it was, in fact, his father that had murdered his mother. His PTSD made it seem like anyone else had done it. That was normal.

"The Reverse-Flash was going to kill me," Barry insisted. "Just like he killed my mother!"

Savitar shrugged. "Do you know that for sure?"

Barry felt his anger slowly ebb away, an open drain spilling it out. He, honestly, would probably never know everything that was supposed to happen that night. Would never know what would have happened had Eobard gotten to him. Had he not saved himself.

"What was the second thing?"

Savitar lifted an eyebrow. He worked to not appear interested in Barry's curiosity. Barry could see it across his doppelganger's face. Saw the little nuances he knew of himself with Savitar's attempt to hide what he was feeling.

"The second thing you needed," Barry insisted. "The first was for Cadence to die, the second…"

"Ah." Savitar nodded. He removed his hands from his pockets and folded his arms. "The Speed Force Bazooka." He rolled his eyes at the name. "The Calcified Speed Force energy made from the Philosopher's Stone. I needed a linchpin and no matter what, the Philosopher's Stone was the one thing to get me there."

"And you used Julian for that?" Barry realized, running over his last conversation with his co-worker in his head. To know their lives had been linked longer than he'd known. "To get it to you?"

"Julian was such an easy pawn. He already hated you so much…it didn't take much for my hatred to make it irrevocable, for me to use him, for me to get into his weak-minded brain and use everything about him against him. It helped that he was already so suspicious of you. You came back from your 'science trip' and Savitar suddenly appears? You care about the lives of metahumans so much, disappear at odd times, hate him for no reason…it didn't take much to convince him to help you." He rubbed his nose. "Well, help _me _help you."

"We could have helped you."

Savitar threw his hair out of his face and turned, glaring into the whiteness. Barry knew himself enough to know it was a begrudging agreement. _He must've thought about it, _Barry realized, _about what he could've done differently._

"No. You couldn't."

"Yes, we could! We—"

"—_Your life is not my life_. Once life started to affect everything, there was no turning back. Nothing would be the same. There wouldn't have been any use for me." Savitar lowered his chin. "Ever."

"Well." Barry shrugged. "I'm here."

"Great, more time with myself," Savitar growled.

"So _why _then?" Barry demanded. "Why am I here?"

Savitar looked at him as if he was stupid. "You willingly walked into the Speed Force."

"No," Barry insisted. "Why am I here and not in my prison? Not reliving the worst day of my life over and over like Wally did, watching his mother die. Just like Jay…"

"Because you're being punished," Savitar said. He shook his head. "You act like the Speed Force is the best thing for a speedster. It grants us our powers, yes, but maybe, just maybe, it has its own plans. It has its own thoughts. It doesn't always want the best thing for a speedster. Maybe you need to learn that lesson. Sounds like you could use a refresher on what your decisions can lead to."

Flashpoint, Barry knew, was what Savitar was referring to. "Everything could've happened anyway—"

"—And yet, it happened like this." Savitar lifted a finger, shaking it in Barry's face. "You have your life,"—he curled his finger toward himself—"and I have mine. And because of you, I'm not getting my life back. I don't have that chance anymore."

Lightning crackled. Not as quick, not as powerful as before, but moving slowly, allowing Barry and Savitar to see its fingertips continued to breach as it dragged across the white barrier around them. Growing stronger as the seconds passed.

"Well." Barry sighed. "It seems like we have a lot of time to figure it out."

Savitar nodded. "Yes. We do."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey hey! Thanks for everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story! It really means a lot the response I've received so far and I'm excited for you all to see what's next! What did you think of the look inside the Speed Force with Barry and Savitar?

And, of course, the new dynamics as to how Team Flash are working out now? What do you think about the pacing? Good enough for an opening? Too slow? Too fast?

I hope to update again soon.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Brady and Leah are still helping her, they haven't stopped going to STAR Labs. And Cade has absolutely no plans of ever going back to school, one degree is enough for her, especially with how much time she put into it when Brady was young and how many years straight she went through schooling. She's happy where she is.

**Yummers: **There's going to be a lot of instances that show how Cadence's powers have changed since the last story, as well as a bit of her personality in general.

**EunLi: **I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations as well! :) Thanks for coming along to this story!


	3. Fractured

**02**

_Fractured_

* * *

Cadence barely caught the door from loudly smacking into the wall, bouncing back toward her hand when she forcibly entered her apartment. She glanced to the couch, seeing it empty and the television off, realizing Conner had probably already gone to Brady's room for the night. Cisco winced, his shoulders moving towards his ears as he waited for the explosive sound. She walked to the kitchen, her boots making angry stomping sounds as she went, stopping only when she arrived at the island, tossing her purse to the counter.

"You should've told me," she said, once finally finding her voice. It was low, almost a growl. She clenched her teeth, doing her best to keep from snapping at Cisco, if not losing her cool completely. It'd been a long time since she'd get everything bowled over like a volcano.

Cisco, on the other hand, practically folded in on himself when he noticed the look on her face. He cleared his throat then responded meekly. His voice was so soft that it took a few words before he was able to speak confidently. "I know," Cisco held up his hands, ready to ward off any attack from her. "I know. I…I wanted to, but…I didn't know if it was ever a good time."

He didn't know if it was ever a good time? Cadence lifted an eyebrow, unsure of what would've changed had he had mentioned it before. A tiny part of her, the tiniest part of her that she locked away in a cage with as many metal chains to hold it shut, soared with hope at the mere idea that they could figure out how to get Barry back.

She'd thought of it before but knew it wouldn't work; she'd been in the Speed Force once before, had been used as his 'lightning rod' to bring him back from it. But that was when he'd been blown apart by the Speed Force to be taken in. This time he went voluntarily and…they'd tried to bring him back, had the same idea, and it hadn't worked. Nothing happened.

What was the point of being a 'lightning rod' if you couldn't attract that lightning to bring it back at a moment's notice? Especially when their past trip to the Fire Fall and their powers worked together to take down Breathtaker should've made it easier to do.

"You should've told me about both of them!" Cadence whirled around to face him, folding her arms.

Cisco blinked at her in surprise. He dropped his hands. "Hold up, are you mad about the Caitlin thing or about the Barry thing?" Cadence lifted her eyebrows, angling her head. Indicating she meant both. "Oh come…" Cisco's words died on his lips. He lightly rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair. "Yes, I should've told you about Barry. That's something that would've affected the whole team…the whole city. But…" He blew a raspberry. "I couldn't tell you about Caitlin."

Cadence's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. "Why?" She pressed.

"Because I know you wouldn't have gone if I had told you." Cisco stepped forward, pressing his palms against the island, leaning toward her. He looked at her so seriously, a major difference from the fun-loving Cisco she always knew. "There's something different about her, Cade. She's not Killer Frost anymore."

Cadence eyed him carefully. She sucked her lips into her mouth, listening to him. Wondered if he really knew the truth about how she wasn't Killer Frost anymore. Wondered, equally, if it made her a hypocrite to be angry about him keeping his true intentions of their meeting night from her as she kept what'd happened to Caitlin from him.

She still remembered the feeling of Killer Frost's cool skin trembling beneath her hands as she jammed the needle of the cure into her throat, shoving her thumb against the plunger to make sure everything was emptied into her body. Cadence didn't know how quickly the cure took hold of Caitlin's—Killer Frost's—meta powers and dampened them out. But there hadn't been any sign of her cold signatures anywhere for her to think she had returned.

She'd looked.

"What do you mean?" She finally asked. How do you know that?"

"I mean…" Cisco turned away, running a hand through his hair. He let out a long sigh, rounding out his shoulders, then turned back to her. "I mean, she's not Killer Frost anymore. I _know _she's not Killer Ffrost. You heard her tonight, Frost isn't there. And…I looked."

"You looked?"

Cadence tipped her head aside. Wondered what it was that he'd done. What more he had been keeping a secret as they worked long hours in STAR Labs to keep the city safe. One person gone, and it was like they were suddenly falling apart. _Though, _Cadence conceded, _We did lose a big part of the team._

And it was that reason, knowing that the Flash's presence was so sorely missed in the city, so much so that there were countless items in the newspaper and tv news about where The Flash could've gone, why he abandoned the city, and what was going to happen in his absence with the MRA. So much so that she couldn't take it. Too many memories, so Cade decided to have some time away, too. To go back to Metropolis to spend some time there, maybe field some of the questions her mom had about the upcoming wedding—mainly if there was going to be one.

It was premature to send out the save the dates, Cadence realized standing in the kitchen of her childhood home, holding the flimsy piece of cardboard with one of their engagement photos on one side and the information on the other.

_Bartholomew Henry Allen and Cadence Michelle Nash request the presence of your company at their wedding celebration…_

The fanciest of card stock, the biggest words picked to say, "Hey, we're getting married, come if you want. Open bar."

Cadence was partially surprised her mom didn't have her own name plastered all over the save the dates, but knew her mother was getting better about her exuberance of things. Maya had said so herself, that she was waiting to see what Cadence had to say when all her friends and their family were asking for more details of the big day, details that'd been put on hold since his disappearance into the Speed Force.

But, even then, the whispers around her home and the questions from family friends, people she'd grown up around for years eventually took its toll. Took down the 'cheerleader smile' that she'd perfectly crafted over the years to handle any situation for the first time she could remember. Made it so that she had to run again, took a little trip, a jaunt really, to Earth-38 to visit Kara and Deity. To get some time away from everything. And that came along with its own problems.

"I looked for her cold signatures, Cade," Cisco said. "I looked for them for _months_. I've looked for them since the day we offered her the cure. Since Barry said she had the choice." Cadence winced. "And her cold signatures haven't come up once since then. But I still managed to track her down." He started to pace, chuckling under his breath. "It was hard, if she doesn't want to be found, she doesn't want to be found. But I found her, and we talked and…"

"And you decided it was a good idea to try and force us back together?" Cadence's voice turned humorless once more. She ran a hand over her face while Cisco nodded earnestly. "Look, Cisco, I get it—"

"—We already lost so much, Cade! if we had a chance to have her back…" He shook his head feebly. "I couldn't pass that up. She wouldn't want me to do that, and I couldn't I…" he raised his hands, slapping them to his sides once more.

Cadence twisted her mouth and mentally put herself in his shoes. What would she have done if it were her? If, in some way, it had been Barry or Brady or even Cisco that had become so desperate to relieve themselves of their powers after having become taken in by a doppelganger—and evil one at that—of someone she trusted. Having been stuck in an icy world with a part of them that was trying to take them over, make them evil. What would she have done if it seemed that they were back to normal?

It didn't help that Cadence knew how much Cisco truly felt for Caitlin. How devastating it must've been for him to, not only lose his friend, but someone who loved so dearly. He'd only said to her once, that he loved her, on one of their nights out after Barry had disappeared. He'd been drunk enough to fall into some of his more depressing emotions, having to let it out.

Cadence walked forward and wrapped her arms around her friend, relieved when he immediately hugged her back. She didn't realize how much she needed that hug until that moment, feeling all the tension that shot into her muscles, holding her stiffly since seeing Caitlin and having to remain calm for the night, waiting to blow up later. But the bomb had been diffused and they were in the safe zone.

"It's okay, Cisco," Cadence murmured, rubbing his back. She took a step back. "I get it."

"Good," Cisco said. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, that nearly bowled him over. "I'm glad." He laughed a nervous laugh, scratching at his eyebrow. "You, uh, you were really starting to look like you were about to kill me."

Cadence chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "Would I ever do that?" Cisco gave her a look, making Cadence gently roll her eyes. The irony wasn't lost on her, how recently it was that she'd finally managed to make her way out of the Assassination Bureau's clutches. She hadn't heard from Stratos or White Hot, had only just recently been able to go to the small mound of dirt that served as Mindboggler's grave. In a way, her new lease on life made her more sympathetic to them.

They didn't deserve it, after what they'd done to her but…

Cadence shook her head. "And the thing about Barry?" She asked, abruptly changing the subject. Cisco's eyebrows came together. Cadence waved her hand impatiently, wondering if she were ready to hear the news. Good or bad, she needed to know. "You were saying you had an idea of how to bring Barry back."

"Oh!" Cisco nodded. "Yeah. You see—"

His words were drowned out by the sound of an explosion that rocked the floor of the building. Cadence and Cisco exchanged a glance that read, "Of course," before they hurried to the windows to see what was going on. They made it to the window just in time to see, what looked like, some sort of a humanoid figure flying through the air.

Cadence then turned to Cisco, who nodded back to her. He turned aside, punching a breach open before the two leapt through it. They landed in the street, right in the middle of the commotion. The residents of Central City were so enamored by the action going on that they didn't notice the arrival of Vibe and Flare, not even Kid Flash's quick appearance drew attention from the figure continuing to streak across the sky.

Cadence tried to track it with her heat vision, realizing quickly that it wasn't a human she was looking at. Had it been a human, she would've bene able to track it's form within seconds, using its heat signature. But she wasn't getting anything from it this time around, maybe the heat from the thrusters propelling it back and forth across the night sky.

"So, what are we looking at, exactly?" Joe asked. His lips parted, taking in the figure that zoomed around them. The lights of the police car bathed him in a hellish red and icy cool blue as the seconds passed. Two warring sides that flickered as the seconds passed.

Cadence looked over her shoulder, not having noticed his squad car arrive at the scene. She did, however, notice Chief Paulson pull up behind him. He glared at her as he pulled himself from the car, as if single-handedly blaming her for the existence of whatever it was streaking through the sky. She understood, he hated metahumans in general, and if metahumans didn't exist, none of the weird things would've shown up in the city.

_Though, _Cadence thought dryly, _he should've gotten over it by now_. It'd been four years since Barry first arrived as the Flash and everyone else followed suit. Her attention was torn back to the figure that flew by so close it whipped her hair around her face. Finally, the figure dropped to the ground and with a loud clank, its knees bending to absorb the shock.

Then it slowly stood, lifting a sword over its shoulder.

"Holy Ronin," Cisco murmured, as they took in the look of the samurai that stood before them.

"A samurai?" Joe murmured with a tone that proved while he'd seen everything Central City had to offer, it was still throwing him off guard. He quickly brought up a large, industrial sized gun. A gun, of which, was for metas that Cisco produced and distributed through the CCPD, just as he did the shields that were resistant to Mick's and Snart's heat and cold guns respectively.

A blast from the new weapon would take down any meta; a ten-fold taser as it were.

"Anyone speak Japanese?" Cisco asked, watching as the robot Samurai swung his long sword over head in a series of flashy moves. He looked over as Wally took a few, tentative steps forward. "Man, what do you think you're doing?"

Wally continued to step forward, making the tiniest of movements and asked, "What do you want?" in fluent Japanese. Cadence's eyes popped open in surprise. She exchanged a glance with Cisco, who was equally as surprised.

"Tell me he didn't speak Japanese," Cisco murmured, shame in his voice. Cadence chuckled to herself, seeing, shaking her head. It was like HR said, there were things within Wally that others didn't get to see. She hated to admit it, Barry held him back a little, and there was a lot Wally could do had he had the chance. It was why she pushed him so hard with his trainings, to go faster and faster, to learn how to use his abilities and control over lightning in other new ways.

"I can do things," Wally defended himself. He held a hand up, silently letting the rest of the team know he had the situation handled. Nevertheless, Cadence clenched her hands into fists, her fingerless gloves straining against the tightening of her skin. She was ready for whatever was coming. And something was coming. "We don't have to hurt you."

"The Flash," The samurai continued. His sightless eyes, so tiny and black, shifted over Team Flash as its head turned to take in the metas and police presence standing in front of him. "You're not the Flash," it finally said, dismissing Wally. "You're not the best. Bring me the Flash."

"I'm sensing an or else," Cisco said sarcastically. Cadence shot him a look, silently warning him to keep his mouth shut. The last thing they needed was any sort of provocation that would have them defeated before they knew what they were up against. He knew that, they trained for scenarios like that.

"Or else the city falls," the samurai continued.

Cadence looked around as she heard the familiar warping sound of Brady phasing and found him rise out of the grand, standing beside her, dressed in his suit. "What'd I miss?" He asked.

"Nothing yet," Cadence replied. She cast him a glance out the corner of her eye. "Where's Leah?"

"Her parents came home," he explained quickly. A one-off comment to the parents that didn't know their daughter was a metahuman and couldn't even fathom it. "I didn't miss anything?" Brady smiled a little. "Cool," he said. "I always miss the fun stuff."

Cadence's eyes made a revolution towards the sky. She didn't think much of what they were going up against to be 'fun'. More like a 'curious'. 'Worrying'. They'd had six months without having to deal with these things and now this? Then again, it was October in Central City, she could've set her clock by it.

"The Flash ain't coming," Wally continued.

"Furthermore, Mifune," Cisco said, showing off a false bravado. False for the moment, but Cadence could hear in his voice he truly believed what he was saying. "We need you sheath that sword before someone gets hurt. Someone like you. Because you're up against some bad hombres. Now what do you think you're going to do against us," he gestured towards Team Flash. "With a sword?"

Cadence noticed the change in demeanor of the samurai seconds before he moved. If it truly were a human, she saw what was equivalent to the muscles tensing before a sort of 'final attack' was to come. She conjured flames up around her hands, ready to launch it forward. But the samurai, with a fancy twist of his sword overhead, slamming the tip of the sword into the ground, releasing a shockwave so hard that it immediately sent Team Flash flying.

Cadence felt the punch of energy to her chest, saw her flames immediately snuff out, before her feet were lifted from the ground and she fell back amongst the others. She crashed hard to the ground, turning in time to see one of the police cruisers that had been caught in the blast flying toward her. Brady reached over to his mother, grasping her arm, phasing the two of them just as the car crashed into them and harmlessly skidded away.

Joe groaned, pulling himself up among the glass that littered the ground. First, he checked on Chief Paulson, who waved Joe off, before turning to the rest of the team. "You guys okay?" His worry was palpable.

Cadence nodded to him before turning another glare to Cisco, who could only feebly ask, "The hell kind of sword is that?" in the most dumbfounded tone he could muster.

"You have one day," the samurai declared, voice coming out deeper and more guttural than before. It waved over the team like tar, holding them in place. "If the Flash does not face me…Central City dies." Then he turned, wings protruding from its back like plane's wings, then took off into the sky once more.

Cadence shook her head. She took a few steps forward and stared to run, before teleporting. She barely heard Brady shout after her before her teleportation took her just above the robot samurai. She landed atop of him, the sudden weight landing on it knocking it of course. Reaching back a hand, Cadence punched one of the wings and cracked it. She could hear electricity crackling and circuits breaking before she leapt off its back, teleporting back to the ground.

The robot samurai circled above her, smoke trailing from the broken wing. Cadence frowned, shaking out her hand, looking at the skin that'd split open and was healing back together. Whatever metal the robot samurai was made of, but it was obviously much stronger than any of the thought it'd be.

The samurai landed back on the ground, unsheathing its sword once more. "I never thought you'd be the one to take me on this early," he remarked. He spun the sword on his hand. "'If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you've got. But you're not going to win."

Cadence's eyebrow lifted. "We'll see about that," she replied and rocketed herself forward with a blast of fire from her feet. She spun herself aside of the sword that was surged toward her and threw out her arm, creating a fire whip that wrapped itself around the arm of the sword.

She landed on the ground behind the robot samurai, her arms flinging above her head and straining tight against the pull of the sword the samurai pulled back in the opposite direction. Gears started to strain, smoke pouring from the joints of the robot's shoulders against Cadence's strength.

She pulled hard, bringing the samurai robot toward her, a loud screeching sound filling the air as its feet scratched across the ground. Her eyes narrowed when she continued to pull it toward her. Something was wrong. It was too easy for her to bring the samurai toward her. Her point was proven when the samurai robot turned and put his face close to hers.

"There's more in you than I thought," he said. "Still…I want the Flash. Bring him to me. I only entertain this plan once." With that, the samurai robot showed an incredibly amount of power, swinging its arms down to rip through the fire whip. Cadence cried out in pain, feeling her shoulders pop at the sudden force of her arms yanked in the opposite direction before she was flipped over, heels over head. She landed on her back, curling away seconds before the samurai sword crashed to the ground, releasing another wave of energy that shot her back into a nearby building.

They lost again.

That was really starting to bug her.

* * *

_"The Flash hasn't been seen in almost six months, leaving us to speculate what can save us from this threat. Not to mention, it brings up the question of the Metahuman Registration Act and what may be pushed forward from the likes of Lex Luthor. Luthor, from Metropolis, has been a very firm in his ideas of metahumand presence since-"_

Brady muted the TV in the Cortex and let out a sigh, resting his chin against his folded arms. "I don't know about you guys, but this is really starting to get depressing," he mumbled. He rolled his eyes, when Wally said, "_Starting?" _before adding under his breath, "there are other superheroes in this town. Why do you think he only wanted the Flash?"

"The same reason all these other guys wanted The Flash," Brady mumbled. He rubbed the back of his neck, sinking low in one of the office chairs set up around the Cortex. He and Wally were the only ones who could sit, the rest were pacing. Brady rolled his eyes once more adding, "'Cause he's so goddamn popular," under his breath.

"Hey." Cadence lightly rapped her son on the back of his head as she passed, taking another lap around the Cortex, deep in thought. If the Samurai wasn't a human, didn't have any sort of heat signatures from it, then it was entirely man made. The question was, was it being piloted remotely or was it something that came to life on its own. With as many technology and science companies around the city, it wouldn't surprise her if robots in Central City suddenly became sentient.

"What?" Brady asked innocently. Though Cadence still shot him a withering look.

"He said he wanted to fight the best," Cisco reminded them all, speaking to himself more than he was speaking to anyone else. He looked at cadence and added a quick, "No offense."

"None taken," Cadence replied readily. What offense could be taken? It was obvious she hadn't bene up to her game in the field. She still had the confidence and playful attitude that made run-ins with petty criminals that much more entertaining. It was the big things that was the problem. Where it seemed that, no matter what she did, things weren't lining up for her.

Her trip into the Fire Fall six months before had given her more power than she could ever imagine. She still had that potential but hadn't brought herself to tap into that power for a while. Almost as if there was a mental block, keeping her back.

"He said he's going to destroy the city," Iris said, rubbing her forehead. She looked at her father who shrugged, pressing a hand to her shoulder. Iris lowered her hand from her face and asked quietly, "Do you think he can do it?"

"I say 'yes'," Joe cried, looking at his daughter as if she were crazy. He gestured widely with his arm, dropping his hand from her shoulder. "Did you not see what he did to us just by tapping his sword against the ground?" He shook his head. "I'd hate to imagine what'd happen if he used it like a walking stick."

"Then he has to fight the Flash," Cisco declared. He raised and lowered his hands, slapping them to his sides. "We have no other choice. Cade alright tried to stop him and she nearly got her arms ripped off like a little girl playing with her Barbie doll."

"But Barry's not here," Brady reminded everyone.

Cisco paused. Even from across the room, Cadence could see the hesitation in his movements from behind his computer desk. What he was doing, she wasn't sure. Probably looking through the encyclopedia they had compiled for years—having to add to it further after it had been stolen and—potentially—brought into The Network. If he was smart, Cisco would've been adding the samurai into their database. His fingers hovered over his keyboard, twitching as he looked to Cadence.

Cadence took in a deep breath before saying, "Tell them," quietly. Brady sat up in his seat, looking at his mother then to Cisco, silently waiting for them to continue.

"What if he was? _Here, _I mean. What if he _was _here?" Cisco asked. He licked his lips, parting them to take a deep breath before saying, "We know how this is going. Just us keeping the city safe, we're barely getting it done." He shot another glance to Cadence, silently saying 'no offense' again. Cadence held up a hand. They hadn't had to worry about flying samurais before. Before that, they were handling things just fine, though it was hard to balance Brady's and Leah's training with, not only her own—and Cisco's and Wally's—but also with their school schedule, homework, and still having to come up with excuses if anyone were to ask where they went. "If we don't offer up the Flash, people are going to die. And that's going to be on us. We need to bring Barry back."

"We can't," Joe declared, before reminding him of what everyone knew. "_If_ he comes out, and that's a big if, the Speed Force prison goes unstable and could destroy the whole world."

"Which is what we're trying to avoid," Wally added. "If you haven't noticed."

"What if I can solve that?"

Iris lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "In the next 24 hours?"

"Yes!" Cisco then started to rapidly type on the keyboard, of which Cadence was sure was nothing but gibberish with how quickly he was typing and how little he was looking at the screen. "I've been working on this."

Silence stretched through the room at the realization. It continued to stretch even with Iris's demand to know how long. At that, Cadence watched Cisco closely. Watched as he pressed his lips together. Watched as, looking closer, she saw the pupils in his eyes contract. Saw him run an arm across his forehead despite not sweating.

She realized the answer before he'd said it. "Since he left," Cadence remarked. She sucked in a deep breath, scratching at her eyebrows, trying to take in the admission. Trying to figure out whether it was betrayal she was feeling, that kicked her in the gut, a more painful hit than anything she'd ever felt. It even wasn't as painful as having her fingers lopped off when she found out about her healing abilities.

"Harry's been helping me. And so has Harrison and so has Tess," Cisco said quickly. "And Tina and Tracy and Felicity and Curtis." He licked his lips once more, shocked eyes turning his way. "And I'm pretty sure I've figured out how to stabilize the prison and free Barry without unleashing another lighting storm on the city. I just need a couple more things."

Silence stretched around the Cortex. Silence that lasted long enough for the reality of the situation to fall upon them. Finally, it struck with a shattering thud, minds moving a mile a minute. Joe was the first one to speak.

"Maybe we should," Joe said. His voice was slow, eyes shifting back and forth over everyone who turned to him. He practically flinched under the gaze of the strong eyes and opinions that silently barraged him. "I mean, I'm just saying…it could be something we could look into."

"Wait. Wait a minute." Iris held up a hand, blinking rapidly as she tried to take in everything. She pressed her fingertips to her temples then released it. Her eyes flashed when she dropped her hands from her head. "You've been working on this? You've been working on this since he left, and you haven't told us?" She demanded.

Cisco swallowed hard and nodded. Iris let out a sound of disbelief, slapping her hands to her sides before folding her arms. "I haven't said anything because I wanted to be certain."

"And are you certain that it won't take Wally in its place?" Iris asked, gesturing toward her brother. "That it won't reach out to another Earth and steal Jesse? That you can close it before it rips the city in two?" She took in a deep breath, trying to steady her tone to deliver the most important question. "Are you _certain_ that he's still alive?"

"He's got to be!" Cisco cried. He stood up from behind his computer, eyes wild with desperation. "Iris, _you_ of all people have to know that he is. He's your best friend. You've known him forever. How can you not be in on this?"

"Because Barry is gone," Iris snapped. Cadence closed her eyes at the fury of Iris's voice, clenched her hand into a fist. "That is the only thing any of us can be certain about!" She looked around the Cortex, looking for eyes of anyone that agreed with her. "Now let's do what we have to do to take down the Samuroid, okay? Let's just focus on that."

"Sorry." Cisco shrugged then nodded to Cadence. "But I only take orders from her." Iris glared at him. "Barry put her in charge and so far, she's been doing a better job of holding us together than the rest of us have been on our own. I don't know what's going on with you, but at least she hasn't given up on Barry." He leveled his gaze to Cadence. "Right?" He asked.

Cadence thought for a moment. Sorted through the mixed swirl of emotions that threatened to drown her. Then she looked at Cisco closely, at the one she'd grown closer to over the past six months. They had no reason not to, if she were being honest. They both lost a lot, and misery loved company. "What's your idea?" she finally asked.

"You can't be serious," Iris said.

"I'm very serious!" Cadence snapped back, whirling to face her. "If there's a way that we can get Barry back, we need to take every chance we have to do it."

"Barry is _gone_!"

"No, he's _not_!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"The same way you're he is!" Cadence held Iris's gaze. "Barry wanted us to keep running, but he hasn't said anything about giving up hope on him. Running forward doesn't mean that, sometimes, you don't turn back. You have to keep looking behind you to see what's catching up. And pretending like nothing has happened and that you're okay with everything and taking it out on everyone else is the worst way to go."

Iris shook her head. "We need to focus on stopping the Samuroid."

"And I_'m_ going to do that," Cadence declared, jabbing herself in the chest with her index finger. "Okay? It'll buy us some time while Cisco figures everything out."

"Okay," Iris said, though she didn't sound happy about it.

"Can we go home now?" Brady's voice broke in, quiet and dull. He stared—almost glared—at the wall in front of him, not focusing on anything else. Cadence sighed through her nose. It didn't seem like anything else was going to get done that night.

"Yeah, bud," she said, reaching out and running her fingers through his hair. "Let's go home." Brady immediately popped up from his chair and went to his mother's side, allowing her to grasp his shoulder to hold him firmly to her side. "Don't wait up on this, Cisco. Get a good night's sleep then tackle it again. I don't want something to go wrong and someone else gets sucked inside that prison."

Cisco nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Everyone go home."

Cadence nodded back and—_bamf_—teleported herself and Brady back to their quiet apartment. As soon as they arrived, Brady yanked his shoulder from beneath her hand and headed toward his room. He stopped just before disappearing around the corner.

"Do you really think we'll get Barry back?" He asked.

Cadence wasn't about to lie to him. She hadn't before. "We're going to try," she said.

Her son took in a deep breath through his nose. "I…don't…" He briefly, painfully closed his eyes. "I don't want what happened to Conner to happen to me."

"It won't."

He looked at her. "It almost did."

Cadence nodded in acknowledgement. It was true. It had almost happened before. Because it had been her idea. A version of her's idea. Burnout's idea. And she'd gone along with it, without having the means to Brady know what was truly going on. She wasn't sure how many times she could apologize for it, or if an apology was enough to remove the haunted look from his eyes. "Goodnight, bud."

"Night, mom," Brady replied before disappearing into his room.

Cadence sighed heavily, running her hands over her face. She then dropped it then clenched her hand into fists. They shook rapidly as the seconds passed, the anger quelling up through her like a volcano ready to explode.

And God help whomever got in the way of that explosion.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, we're back to Barry in the Speed Force in the next chapter. I know a lot of this one was the same as to what happened in the episode, but it did give some insight to the relationships of the team now that Barry had been gone. Everything will come to a head with the next one.

I'm sorry I had a lack of communication with my lack of update last week, but I hope you all enjoy this one and I'll update again soon! I have next Friday off so it should be a good one. Fun fact, I've had most of the beginning of this story written up for months and at this point it's making sure it still falls in line with what I've got planned now, edits, and working on potential scene changes that determines my updates.

So, any question or anything you'd like to see as the story goes on? Oh! Harrison, Tess, DeVoe, and DMarlize make their first appearance in the next chapter as well.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Everything that you mentioned in your last review are tiny bits of plot points that are coming up all throughout the story. Hope you're ready for it!

**DarkHelm142: **Barry's time in the Speed Force is a big part of this story. Even when he comes back, it'll be seen in flashbacks, memories, and dreams since it's such a big point of what brings his story forward. And I'm really excited for you all to see what I've got planned with it.

**littlesimmer2: **Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you loved it.

**yummers: **Hope you enjoy it!

**spinquin142: **Great to see you back! And that you've continued to read! I'm glad you've enjoyed everything so much as the series has gone on! I'm glad you're able to see changes within Cade as well as see the things that are the same. Cade's not going to be so mopey all the time, actually, in the next chapter, you'll see how it's more being unable to process the idea of Barry finally coming back that's the issue. She doesn't know what to feel and doesn't know if she should expect the other shoe to drop, so it makes things a bit difficult. However, I'm excited for what'll happen with DeVoe as well, I've got a few cool ideas coming.


	4. Hatred

**03**

_Hatred_

* * *

Barry jumped at the particularly loud crack of thunder, not from the lightning that struck nearby. No, he'd become used to the frequent flashes as the Speed Force swirled around him. The Speed Force storm hadn't changed since Barry arrived inside, it hadn't even changed with Savitar's presence as he strolled alongside Barry.

Barry glanced at Savitar, as he kept his hands in the pockets of his slacks and moved almost leisurely. Barry wasn't sure what to make of him. This was a man—himself—who hated Barry so much that he was close to killing him on multiple occasions. Who, Barry thought, knew he could never kill knowing there were too many things that would affect the timeline, would affect reality, as they knew it.

So, what was it that was keeping him around now? The speedster should've been dead. And yet here he was, gallivanting through the Speed Force, whistling under his breath as he continued along. Savitar's boots clomped loudly against the ground—or what Barry thought would be the ground of the Speed Force—the only sound between them.

All until Barry spoke, finally unable to stand the silence much longer. "What do you want from me?"

"I already told you what I want."

"You want my life. I got that. But you can't have it…I was—"

"—You were supposed to be me."

Barry nodded.

Savitar had explained that to Barry as well. There were more than enough times that Savitar had told him what he wanted out of Barry's life, what he was supposed to have become. What tragedies he'd seen of the life that continued to play out in front of him. If the same had happened to him, he would've bene just as angry, just as upset…maybe just as vengeful.

Vengeance wasn't anything Barry did well. Things happened when he allowed those dark thoughts to enter his mind and keep himself stuck in those dark thoughts. Just as he'd been so preoccupied with finding out what'd happened to his mother. It didn't work out badly, it made it so that he was able to do his job well. That he could put himself into the minds of the victims of some crimes and help where help was needed. Where he could commiserate rather than immediately see who was good and who was evil…

And yet, it also made him less empathetic to those that were clearly on the bad side of the law. Those that were too greedy for their own good. Those that had nothing going on in their lives but hurt and wanted to hurt others. Those that had no souls and wanted to harm anyone for reasons Barry could never fathom.

"And that hatred's keeping you going?" Barry asked. "Keeping you in the Speed Force?"

"The Speed Force doesn't work the same for everyone," Savitar explained. He kept his face forward. "It won't work the same way for you as it did for me. Technically, I'm not supposed to exist anymore. The Black Flash took care of that."

"Then how are you here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Savitar replied. He swiveled his head toward Barry, his fringe falling over the eye that could see. Nevertheless, Savitar's sightless eye bore into Barry's. "Why do you think I'm still here?"

Barry shook his head.

"Is there something you feel guilty about, Bare?" Savitar continued to taunt. "Someone you couldn't help? Someone you might have wronged. There must be _someone _out there that The Flash couldn't save." Savitar wiggled a finger toward him. "You must be devastated."

Barry slapped his hand away.

Savitar waved off his hand, as if he'd been burned. He pursed his lips and looked to the front once more. Nodded. "Well, I think it's time that you find out why you're here."

Barry lifted his chin and looked in front of him. He excepted to see some sort of a gateway opening, not the edges of the Speed Force slowly seeming to melt away in front of him. His eyebrows furrowed together as he watched the world around him slowly come into focus. His eyes darted from the wood paneling of the walls that formed around him to the windows that sat across from him, at the end of the house.

The familiar view that niggled something in the back of his mind. Barry's eyebrows came together as the walls and everything around him slowly came into focus. Slowly formed the wood paneling, the high ceilings, the dark wood floors, and the pale beige walls that were his childhood home. Barry sucked in a sharp breath, feeling pain bloom in his chest. He looked down, expecting a vibrating hand to be sticking through him. Instead, he found Savitar leaning against the doorframe, watching Barry curiously.

His eyes shifted over Barry's face, the corner of his mouth slowly pulling back.

"How long has it been, Barry?" Savitar taunted. "How long has it been since you've been in this house? How long has it been since you returned to the worst night of your life?" He sniffed. "Well, _our _lives."

"What is this?" Barry murmured. He looked to Savitar, gritting his teeth. Wondering what was to happen but also knowing exactly what it was going to be. If his assumption was correct, if he truly was right back to that night, his parents weren't long from putting him to bed. Or, rather, returning from putting him to bed. "Why are you doing this?"

Savitar held up his hands. "I'm not doing anything."

Barry surged forward with a burst of his super speed. He grabbed Savitar by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him against the wall behind him. All his pent-up emotions blew out of him in that moment. The emotion of having to leave his friends and family, the painful reality of not being able to say goodbye or explain why he was leaving, the of having to break a promise only seconds after making it.

"_Why are you doing this?!" _Barry hissed so hard that spittle landed on Savitar's face. Savitar chuckled a dark chuckle that chilled Barry to the bone, a cold wave dumped over his head. "_What do you want from me?"_

"I'm not doing anything to you, Barry," Savitar repeated. "'It's the Speed Force." His voice dipped to a sarcastic murmur. "It's a prison. You didn't think you'd be sitting in the lap of luxury while in here, did you? Didn't think that playing the hero all the time was going to make it so that it could look the other way while you worked selfishly with your powers."

"I've never been selfish with them."

"Oh really?" Savitar stuck his face close to Barry's, the tips of their noses brushing. Savitar's breath, which smelled like death, wafted over Barry's face, making his eyes water. Or else it was the tears of frustration that was finally starting to fall. "What is it that made you go back to your mom the first time? This time? What made it so that you went back and saved your mom the second time? And your dad? You're a selfish hero—"

"—No." Barry dropped his hands from Savitar's lapels, dropping him to the floor. He took a step back.

"And your star is fading—"

"—No."

"—And while you've made this sacrifice to come in here, it was your time after all, the Speed Force needs to see you punished. Needs to see that you've learned your lesson."

Barry's voice shook. "I thought…I wasn't to live in as much hell as the others. I thought…"

"You won't," Savitar said flatly. "Geez, a little bit of a truth and you turn into a Reverse-Flash." He wiped his palms off on the front of his jacket. "The Speed Force doesn't lie. You're not going to see the worst part of your life. You've already gone through too much of that."

A creak caught his attention. Barry turned on his heel and watched as his parents came down the stairs, laughing quietly, shushing each other. They looked so happy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen them smile at each other like that. Henry carefully took Nora's hand and helped her down the last few steps, holding her still as she leaned over, taking off her heels.

"I still can't believe you congratulated him for getting into a fight," Nora said, setting her heels aside. She cast Henry a critical glance, allowing her fingers to slip from his. She walked to the living room and dropped down to the couch, bringing a hand up to rub at her eyes. "You know we're going to be called into another meeting with the principal and his teachers."

"Yes, the thought has crossed my mind," Henry agreed. He walked to the bar they had set up in the corner of the room and poured them two glasses of whisky. "I'm already thinking to clear my schedule for the next day in case they call me in earlier than last time."

"And what are you going to do this time? Take him out for ice cream? No…" Nora took the glass that was offered to her and gestured toward her husband with it. "You're going to work on his batting."

"I think we can rule out the idea of Barry being a professional baseball player," Henry replied. He dropped down next to his wife, putting his arm around her. "I worked with him as much as I could but…his running could use some work." He bobbed his head. "And his hand eye coordination. And his swing time. And…well…at least he has fun."

Nora laughed. "He does _not _have fun."

"But I'm sure he has _so much _more fun running away from those bullies all the time." Silence stretched between them for a few minutes before Henry spoke again. "You know how difficult it is to punish him for how hard he's trying to protect all those other kids. He's doing more than what that school has ever done for the bullying he's received. How many times did we see him come home with a busted lip or a black eye just because someone bigger than him didn't like the way he looked?"

Nora shook her head. She glanced toward the ceiling then sighed heavily, resting her head on her husband's shoulder.

Barry stepped toward the two then stopped. He glanced back at Savitar, who resumed his post, leaning against the wall behind him. This time, however, Barry saw a look of longing in Savitar's eyes. The same look Barry would give when he would see an old photo of his parents. Wishing he could've gone back to a time where…well…that's what got him into the mess in the first place. His time travel to change things to what he wanted them to be.

It's what the Speed Force had reminded him of.

_"Eddie Thawne's life was almost so different," Eddie explained, looking Barry in the eye. Something about the Speed Force kept Barry from looking away. "Iris was about to be his wife, Joe was about to be his father in law. But things didn't turn out that way, did they? Instead of that life being his legacy…" he gestured to himself, tapped his finger against the bloodstain on his shoulder. "This is." He eyed Barry carefully. "The only reason you came back was to save Wally?"_

_"Yes," Barry breathed._

_Eddie slightly turned his head away. "There's no other reason?"_

_"No," Barry whispered once more._

_Eddie watched him for a long moment. He nodded and shrugged. "Alright then, Bare, if you want Wally, all you have to do,"—he pointed to the elevator just behind the bull pen— "Is go through those doors."_

_Barry started toward it._

_"But you have to outrun that thing first."_

_The doors dinged open. Time slowed down around Barry, sensing danger coming closer and faster than he could anticipate. Everything slowing down gave him the chance to run through a gauntlet of emotions. Awe, fear, trepidation, determination, and confusion as a screaming banshee raced his way._

_Barry took a quick look at it before he turned on his heel and raced away. He circled the CCPD bullpen repeatedly, the screaming banshee clawing and scraping at his back as he ran. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five. Finally, Barry shot himself into the elevator, crashing against the back of it. He reached out his foot and kicked at the buttons that's prompt the elevator to go to a new floor._

_It slid shut, just as the banshee arrived and Barry slumped to the floor, letting out a long breath._

_Safe._

_Safe for now._

_The elevator took a long journey to what was only supposed to be the second floor. When it finally arrived, Barry caught his breath and was back on his feet, ready for the banshee to take off after him as soon as the doors opened. But when it did so, Barry got a second shock. Instead of still being in the CCPD, he was back in STAR Labs._

_Barry slowly stepped out of the elevator, traversing the same hallway he walked every day to reach the Cortex. As he moved closer and closer, he heard soft singing. A lullaby. Hush little baby._

_Hush little baby, don't say a word. Momma's gonna buy you a mocking bird._

_Barry moved into the Cortex and saw Caitlin gently bouncing a baby back and forth in her arms. Her head was angled down, eyes focused on nothing but the baby, a small smile splayed on her lips. Barry had only seen the same smile a few times, from his mother to him, from Cadence to Brady, and from Maya and Tess to Cadence. A smile that seemed that only mothers could give._

_Barry's eyes shifted back to the baby Caitlin gently swaddled. A girl from the look of the pink blanket she was swaddled in. Then he heard another cry and whipped around, to see Cadence—a younger Cadence—standing on the other side of the Cortex. A baby boy in her arms. Like Caitlin, she gently bounced the baby, tears running down her cheeks._

_She wasn't singing._

_She was murmuring to her baby. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."_

_"Caitlin?" Barry looked between the two. "Cade?" Barry moved closer to Caitlin, looking down into the baby girl's face, taking in her pursed lips as she was soothed. Saw the familiar flutter of the eyelashes, saw the nose and overlying features that looked so familiar. "This baby…"_

_"Is beautiful." Ronnie's voice made Barry turn._

_This time with resignation._

_Speed Force Ronnie walked closer to Barry. Then he stepped aside and allowed a manifestation of Kent Nash to follow him. The first time Barry had seen him since his funeral, where he sat further back in the pews, not feeling it was his place to sit closer even to support Cadence. It gave him a good view of Kent's picture placed on an easel, a picture taken for his advertising business. Of a man who looked like every man's best friend._

_And now, the same man was standing in front of Barry, looking at him curiously. Barry turned back to Cadence, who continued to gently bob a baby in her arms. This time, Barry realized, the 'baby' was in fact a toddler sized Brady, who was wrapped in a blue blanket, clutching it tightly to his neck._

_"Hello, Barry," Ronnie greeted him with a nod._

_"We need to talk," Kent added._

_Barry swallowed hard and looked back at Caitlin. Watched as she reached out her finger and gently stroked the baby's cheek. "They should've had that," he murmured. "A family…future…" He thought for a moment, looking at Caitlin's state of dress, the way her hair was styled. Familiar. Dread washed over him. "This would've happened…if the Particle Accelerator hadn't exploded, wouldn't it?"_

_Kent shrugged. "The future doesn't always turn out as we want it to."_

_"I see what you're doing," Barry murmured._

_"Do you?" Ronnie raised an eyebrow._

_Barry nodded. He set his jaw and looked at the two manifestations of the Speed Force. "First Eddie, now Ronnie. Showing me the people who sacrificed for the greater good."_

_"No, Barry, these people sacrificed for you. Just like Wally did when he was trying to stop Savitar." Barry looked toward Kent. Ronnie followed his gaze. Kent scoffed and shook his head. "You don't understand, do you?"_

_"He had a brain tumor," Barry murmured, remembering what was explained to him at the hospital after Cadence's frantic phone call to him. He'd made it there in record time, finding the Nash family sitting quietly in their own forms of grief. Barry had been surprised to see how they'd handled things compared to her phone call; calm and straightforward. "He didn't know."_

_"Ah, but he did," Kent denied. He reached up and tapped his forehead. Right between his temple and his forehead. "It's hard to ignore a tumor the size of a walnut pressing between the parts of your brain that holds your motor functions, personalities, and behaviors. Kent knew it was inoperable and knew he was dying when he went to visit you for Thanksgiving that year."_

_"He wouldn't let Cadence heal him," Barry remembered._

_"And he wouldn't allow himself to pull her away from the new family and happiness she was creating with you and Brady in Central City. With her new friends. He'd made his mistakes. Made peace with them. Made up with her but knew their family, as he knew it, was over. Kent wasn't a man that dwelled on things he couldn't change. Kent Nash knew, in a manner of speaking, he was part of the reason she found you. In that aspect, he'd made a sacrifice for you. Just like Wally."_

_"I don't…" Barry shook his head. "Savitar tricked Wally. And now he's trapped. You have to let me take his place. That's why I'm here!"_

_"Or the other reason, Barry," Ronnie insisted._

_Barry shook his head. Tried again. He had to make them understand. They weren't understanding him. "I want to sacrifice myself for Wally."_

_"We can't allow that," Ronnie said sympathetically._

_"Because where Wally is, it's a hell on its own," Kent added. "It's not a place for you." He waved his hand, shooed Barry away. "Leave while you still can."_

_"No," Barry said firmly. He took a step towards Kent and Ronnie, staring them down. "Whatever hell he's in, I'm going to set him free. And I'm not going to leave until I do."_

_"Very well." Ronnie's eyes shifted behind Barry. Kent stepped back. "But you were warned."_

"It's not a prison for me," Barry murmured. He shook his head. Looked toward Savitar. "It's a prison for you. We're watching your life play out…"

"_Your _life play out," Savitar corrected. "Your life…my life…it's all one and the same. This is what should've happened. You're not in hell, I am. I have to watch all this over and over again while you get the peace of knowing what it was that should've happened to you. It won't be as traumatizing, to you…it'll be beautiful."

Barry turned back to Savitar, bringing up a hand to…to do what? To comfort him? To reassure him that everything was going to be okay? That things that would work out for him? How could it work out when his life was already so tragic? When his life had already ended the moment Barry ran back to create Flashpoint? No, when Barry went back to save his mother the first time? Or had it been when he even tried to stop that tidal wave from destroying the city? Tried to stop Vandal Savage from killing everyone with a simple tap of the staff into the ground? When he accidentally ran into the future?

What time travel feat was it that messed everything up?

And when would he finally stop using it as a means to fix everything?

"You can't fix this, Barry," Savitar said, reading his mind. Or else it was the mind-meld they'd encountered before. There were still so many things he wasn't sure about the mind-meld and how it worked. He didn't know what'd happened to Cadence when she mind-melded with a dying Burnout, what caused her to feel so much pain. It came in handy many times before, there had to be something about it that helped then. "There isn't anything here that needs to be fixed." He sighed. "We're going to watch this until the Speed Force feels that your time is up."

"How long will that be?" Barry asked.

Savitar gave him a 'duh' look. "Are you sure you've got those fancy college degrees? You sure ask some stupid questions sometimes." He lightly smacked himself in the forehead with his open palm. "What am I saying? I'm insulting myself. Maybe I should be kissing your feet. Making you feel like the king you think you are."

Barry let out a long breath. He ran a hand through his hair and turned his back to Savitar. Watched as his parents continued to speak quietly to each other as the night went on. He watched and waited, and waited as they exchanged a few kisses but otherwise enjoyed each other's silence. Waited for the yellow blur that was Eobard Thawne—the Reverse Flash—to break in and create havoc that would then threaten the rest of his life.

But nothing happened.

The night played out the way it was supposed to. With his parents going to bed, hand in hand. Night turned to day and Barry watched as his parents woke him up for breakfast and they lived a day he'd never lived before. A day that had a morning where Henry reproached Barry for consistently getting into fights, despite the warm smile he'd flash his son when his mother wasn't paying attention, between pressing a bag of ice to his black eye.

To the way his mother hugged and kissed him tightly before sending him off to school with the same partying she always had, "Have a good day. Make good choices," making little Barry make the same face he always had back to her before rushing to catch the bus.

The bus he'd catch where he'd end up sitting alone, looking around at the other kids with longing, looking for anyone who'd want to be his friend. While simultaneously watching Iris, wondering when he'd ever get the courage to talk to her.

The second the bus pulled away, everything around Barry sped up. Within five seconds, he watched the rest of his life play out. One minute he was a young boy with a black eye, the next he was a young man who was going off to college, coming back from college, starting his job at the CCPD, going on dates, letting his parents know of the woman he was talking to, introducing his girlfriend, proposal, engagement, marriage, old age, then his death at said old age. The world flipped around him, like a projector resetting, taking him back to the night his mother should've died.

"I still can't believe you congratulated him for getting into a fight. You know we're going to be called into another meeting with the principal and his teachers."

Barry blinked at looked back at Savitar, who stared off into space. A glistening tear fell down his cheek. Barry gasped, suddenly feeling pain bloom through his chest. He brought a hand up and grasped the front of his shirt, then inched his fingers up to his cheek. Felt the tear that fell. Savitar noticed the movement, then looked away in what appeared to be a combination of disgust and sorrow on his face.

That's what Barry was feeling.

Savitar was telling the truth.

Barry wasn't experiencing the Speed Force as a "hell", but it was Savitar's personal "hell" he'd be watching. The life he should've lived.

"Why are you here?" Barry asked, voice shaking.

Savitar lifted his chin, still looked away from Barry. "I need to be punished," he murmured. "And in many ways, so do you."

Barry looked back at the scene in front of him, watching as it unfolded of his life once more. Twice. Three times. All within a matter of seconds. Over and over.

He nodded.

Understood.

He was being punished, seeing a life he would never live.

All because he had to continuously travel through time, change things, work things to his advantage all because of the mistakes he'd made in certain scenarios. Because he couldn't bear to see the people he loved die over and over. Because he tried hard to put things that were broke back together, not knowing they wouldn't come back together as perfectly.

It wasn't, "hell" exactly, but as much of a punishment as a speedster could receive for trying to do the right thing, knowing it was still wrong.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The life of a hero.

"I hate you," Savitar murmured. His voice quivered with equal amounts of sorrow and fury.

Barry nodded.

He understood.

* * *

**A/N:** I sort of wish that I had Barry's time in the Speed Force along with Cade's part in the prologue, but I also love the way the story is opening with the back and forth between their POVs. What did you think of this one? Things do pick up with the next chapter and, within this story, I do have things a bit more cohesive with my plots so it doesn't drag as much as _Friction _did. I'm excited for you all to see.

Also, I have a question for you guys, do you like these shorter chapters? Or do you prefer the longer ones that I'd done before?

**Cheers,**

**-Rile**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan and DarkHelm145: **It's interesting that you both mentioned being surprised that Iris didn't have hope for Barry coming back when that's something I haven't changed from the show. However, the motivations behind it definitely are different.

**Ravenmore45: **I'm about to respond to your message with the list of her abilities right now!

**Yummers: **Glad you like the new role for Cade! It's going to be a big part for her as the story goes on!


	5. A (Not So) Normal Day in Central City

**04**

_A (Not So) Normal Day in Central City_

* * *

Cadence turned off the blender, licking spilled smoothie off the side of her thumb. She poured the contents into a water bottle before dumping the pitcher into the sink to fill with water, making a mental note to do the dishes later. She looked at her watch and leaned to the side to look out from the kitchen, half expecting her son to suddenly appear before her eyes, as was to happen first thing in the morning; half asleep and not thinking much about the use of his powers. The amount of times he'd managed to make her jump with his sudden appearances had grown exponentially since he'd grown another few inches, thus keeping him sleeping much longer.

That didn't mean she'd let him be late for school.

"Brady!" She called. "Come on, you're going to be late." She listened hard, waiting for any sign of movement from her son's bedroom and sighed, hearing nothing. She then spoke to Conner, who sat quietly at the breakfast table. "You'd think having you around would help him wake up quicker." Conner smiled and shrugged. Twisting her mouth aside, Cadence leaned on the island, watching him. He slowly, almost methodically, spooned cereal into his mouth, eyes downcast. "How are you doing today?" She asked.

Conner shrugged. "Fine," he mumbled. He reached for a napkin when milk dribbled down his chin. For any boy on the cups of turning thirteen, it would've embarrassed them, a bright flush coming to their cheeks as their eyes darted around, trying to determine if there was anyone watching. Instead, he almost dejectedly wiped at his face.

"Has Oliver or Felicity called?"

She knew the answer before Conner even thought about shaking his head. She figured as much. It was a delicate situation, she understood that. It was hard for anyone to come back from what he'd seen and the ramifications that still haunted him and Star city. She tried to shield him from as much of it as she could, but it never took too long for the name 'Hawke' to be connected to what happened. Not to mention the last time she'd heard from them had been just before she sent out invitations to Team Arrow for the engagement party. She should've known something was up when she didn't even get a phone call from Thea, who was almost always attached to her phone.

"I'm sure they'll get in touch when they can."

"Yeah…" Conner agreed. His eyes shifted back to his cereal bowl, shoulders barely rising in a shrug.

Cadence nodded, understanding how he was feeling. She moved around the counter and headed toward Brady's room, ruffling Conner's hair as she passed. Reaching her son's room, she knocked, leaning against the door frame. "Brady!"

There was a second of silence before he managed to mumble a gruff, "Come in."

She pushed open the door and went inside to see Brady sitting on the edge of his bed, dressed, but continuing to wipe sleep from his eyes. "Are you going to school today or should I call them?" She lifted a finger. "Fair warning, that the past few years you've always arrived sometime in October and I think the fact I had you there at August will work against you, bud."

"I'm just tired," Brady replied.

"Uh-huh." Cadence watched him closely, watched as he tugged at his left ear, yawning once more. Her eyebrows twitched upwards, recognizing the same movement he'd made since he was a baby. He truly was tired if he started to pull at his ear. She thought for a moment, trying to figure out what it could be. Decided to ask. "Did you stay up all night talking, or did you go out to look for the Samuroid?"

Brady only gave a tired smile in response. That didn't help. It could've been either of them as the actual answer. "I think I need to get better with my sneaking out skills," he joked.

"Yeah, I'd quit using the front door," Cadence joked back. Then she frowned, folding her arms. "There's more than that, Brade. I need you to stop looking for trouble outside of what I send you on."

Brady lifted a finger the same way his mother had only minutes before. "But it's not me," he pointed out. "It's Shadowhunter."

"And when was the last time that excuse worked? Whether or not you find yourself doing something 'as Shadowhunter'," she used air quotes around the words, "There's more than enough people who will try to find out your identity and use it against you when they do." Her words registered with him, making him lower his head and nod, finally dropping his hand from his ear. "Besides, you know how dangerous it is if you go up against something you're not ready for."

"I know, I know," Brady droned, rolling his eyes. "Everyone around me can be in a lot of danger, especially those that don't know about my identity." He paused, nodding out toward the hallway. "And those that do." He paused. "Mom?" His face screwed up. "Why haven't Oliver and Felicity asked for him?"

"I suppose it's too dangerous for him to go back right now."

"Yeah, but not even calling?"

"I don't know, bud," Cadence suddenly felt very tired. The weight of having to take care of two boys by herself falling on her shoulders. "They said they would—"

"—Seems like not keeping promises is a thing now." Brady stood and grabbed his backpack from the ground. "Lucky us." He slung it over his shoulder, giving his mother a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.

Cadence leaned back against the wall, so he could pass. "Brady," she started.

Brady turned to face her, the weight of his backpack nearly knocking him over. He frowned in annoyance, before steadying himself, reaching out with his hand to phase the air particles around him. "I don't need a lecture, mom. And I don't need you to make excuses for him."

"I'm not," Cadence said calmly. "I was just going to say it's two different situations. One that we won't understand because we're not in it. All we can do is be there for Conner until Oliver thinks it's right for him to be back in Star City. Just be his best friend until then, okay?"

Brady looked offended. "Why wouldn't I be his best friend?"

Cadence chuckled. Things were easy for him. Tended to be black and white, as his youth didn't make him experience so much that'd make him jaded to everything. Though his superhero antics had certainly changed him through the past four years. She still saw his excitement and almost hyperactivity toward his powers and powers that anyone else would learn they'd have, but found it to be where his enthusiasm tended to start and end, sarcasm and cynicism coming more to the forefront in his interactions with others.

"Just go to school."

"I'm going." Brady looked over and nodded as Conner picked up his backpack from the floor by his chair. He started toward the door then paused, looking back at the cereal bowl he left on the table. "It's alright, mom'll clean it up."

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Brady smiled impishly. "Have a good class. See you later." Conner lifted a hand in a small wave, leaving behind his best friend.

Cadence closed the door behind her then looked at her watch, then leisurely went through the rest of her morning routine. She tossed the bowl into the sink and filled it with water, then wiped down the counters and table top before heading to the door. She grabbed the gym bag she had held there and slung it over her shoulder, leaving the apartment building.

She waved to the receptionist and those in the leasing office before stepping out into the streets of Central City. Some streets that were broken, torn apart with orange construction cones that forced residents to step into the streets. And yet, there was nothing but smiles on the faces of the citizens. Central City managed to come back from the destruction from the Assassination Bureau and Savitar, much faster than she thought they would.

It was the higher ups, the city officials, the mayor and those that made the laws of the city that seemed not to be able to move on. Even as she passed random telephone poles, boards sitting outside of businesses, and flyers hanging in the window, she saw the reminders of the citywide curfews and new practices for those found out to be metahumans.

That was probably the worst part, knowing things were slowly getting worse for metahuman life. Lex Luthor's presence in his presidential campaign was nothing short of ruining the quality of life that metahumans could have. Especially with those opposing him that were working to make Central City a haven for metas. First was the curfew, then there were whispers of putting in measures to determine who was or had the chance of becoming a meta.

Similar to the metahuman watch that Harry had brought over from Earth-2. It made sense to have the piece of technology there, Zoom targeting metas to join his team was needed, striking down those that opposed him. Just like it made sense for the CCPD to take on security measures from STAR Labs inventions and innovations that'd make it easier for them to take on anyone they'd find out—too late as it tended to be—was, in fact, a metahuman.

The rumors of what was to come after that…? That was the part she couldn't stomach. Things were slowly starting to go downhill, and it wasn't anything they could ignore much longer. Especially with the disappearance of the Flash and the appearance of the Samuroid. All the headers scrolling across the bottom of TVs in businesses were talking about it, about the damage that needed to be fixed, about the money it would cost to do so.

About how much longer could they pretend that metahumans weren't helping the city but hurting them.

And, every morning, Cadence pushed the thoughts away as she went to the city's health center and taught a Zumba class. Something she'd taken up after a year of absence, finding it to fill a void of some sort. Not just to fill a void, but to bring happiness back to her life. The year before had been nothing but bad things happening one after another and it was a goal to be happier. Starting off the day with a Zumba class certainly did it.

What made it even better was going to Jitters afterward and having breakfast with Mallory Jenkins, her best friend since high school. It had been a surprise to find Mallory standing in front of her, trying to make sense of the GPS on her phone to get her to her destination—something that'd been affected by the magnetic meta they'd worked against a few days prior.

"Mall?" Cadence asked, tilting her head to look at the young woman's face as she approached, ready to apologize had she been wrong. "Be Fri?"

Mallory faced her, blonde hair flying for her face, before a bright smile illuminated her face. "St. End!" She reached out and grabbed Cadence in a massive hug, a hug that Cadence easily and excitedly returned. "Cade, wow, I can't believe I ran into you!"

"Me either," Cadence agreed. She hitched her bag up her shoulder. "I thought you were in Metropolis."

"I was," Mallory agreed. She then briefly closed her eyes. "Oh, right, the whole engagement thing. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you, when you were in Metropolis to meet up, I had so much stuff I was doing. With the move and everything."

"You moved to Central City?"

"Keystone. I commute into Central City for listings and showings. And I'm sorry I couldn't celebrate your engagement or go the party. I heard it was a blow out." Mallory's smile widened, the lapels of her jacket bunching as she did so. "Then again, it is your mother, I can't expect anything less."

Cadence laughed. "That's very true," she agreed. "it was a good party. I, uh, went back to Metropolis recently, to plan some more stuff. To see my mom." And to quickly take a trip to Earth-38 to meet up with Kara and Deity, but that wasn't anything she could slip into the conversation. Cadence was suddenly very aware of the feeling she hadn't had to feel in a long time; the conscious decision of having to keep her identity and powers a secret. "You can probably guess how that went."

"She's pretty excited, huh?"

"To the point that she's messaged me almost every day to talk wedding stuff. Recently, it was about what kind of forks I want at the reception." Cadence made a face. "I didn't know forks were a very serious thing at weddings."

Mallory laughed. "So, when do I get to meet the groom to be?"

Cadence wracked her brain, trying to figure out whether she had met Barry the last time they'd been around each other in Metropolis. Even then, her mind was also on the thought that it'd mean she'd have to explain for the umpteenth time that he was on Sabbatical and would be back soon. If 'soon' had any measurement of time in the Speed Force, anyway.

But Mallory continued, not seeming to notice Cadence's hesitation. "And I need to see little Brady again."

Cadence grinned. "Not so little anymore. He'll be thirteen next year."

"It's been that long already?"

"Believe me, it even surprises me." The conversation petered out a bit from there, with the two quickly bidding goodbye so that they wouldn't be late for work. It was Mallory who'd turned around and asked if she'd like to meet up for coffee when she was finished with her class. Cadence had hesitated at first, wanting to use that time between her class ending and going to work to head to STAR Labs and patrol the city.

_One day away won't kill you, _Cadence reminded herself. And every few days or so they would meet up for coffee—hot chocolate in Cadence's case, the excess caffeine was certainly not needed-and talk before they went to work. They talked about everything, starting up their friendship once more, everything but the more important thing, that Cadence was Flare and when she suddenly had to leave it was because there was some sort of disturbance she had to take down.

But part of her was glad to be able to be normal, not having to worry about her other life. To be herself…to forget everything she tried to forget by the time she went to sleep and the darkened thoughts crept into her head, her defenses lowered.

A routine that she continued that day, moving quickly after class ended. "Okay, you guys, that's enough for today!" She called over the head-mic stuck in her ear, voice booming through the studio. She smiled to herself, lowering her volume to say, "I'll see you all again next week."

She waved to her class, grabbed her towel, and roughed it across her face before leaving the health center to head to Jitters. Along the way she was stopped by her phone frantically buzzing with messages. Her heart jolted as she grabbed her phone, rising with hope that she tried hard to swallow. Maybe it was some news…?

Cadence whipped out her phone and tried to swallow the bitterest pill of dashed hope when she saw it was Captain Singh trying to get a hold of her. It had to be serious if he were messaging her that early. Then again, the nature of her job was that serious and couldn't be ignored. Glancing around, Cadence ducked down an alleyway, bending her head over her phone to respond to Captain Singh and send Mallory an apology text with the offer for a rain check. Once she got more information, she could teleport straight there and get started.

Nothing was going to keep her from getting started on a new case. Anytime she closed out with a child moving to a safer home, she immediately moved onto the next one. There were too many kids in Central City getting hurt, being neglected, or taken advantage of by their family that she couldn't sit back and wait. There were times she had to go to court and as nerve wracking as it is, she wouldn't miss those days either, even the long nights to get ready for them.

She'd spent days of all-nighters to get ready for Frankie's court case, scouring over every piece of evidence against John and his wife to prove he'd been hurting her long before anyone caught wind of it. Found anything that would make it so that her metahuman abilities didn't come up as evidence in any way. It still made her smile when she saw the defeat in John's eyes. And now that Frankie was living a better life, she moved onto the next case, though checked in on Frankie much more than she had before.

Captain Singh must've had a dire situation for her if he needed to pull her in early. It took Cadence only a few seconds to realize she was being followed. Lifting her head, Cadence risked a quick glance over her shoulder to find a taller man dressed in a jacket with a hood pulled up, following close her. Close enough to keep her in his sights, but not close enough to appear as if it were a coincidence he was there.

Cadence slowed her steps, sighing patiently when she heard the footsteps behind her slow as well. Someone out to rob her. _Oh well, _she thought. _At least I can have some fun before work. _Cadence abruptly turned around, making the man stop as well, his eyes widening at her movement.

"Oh, sweetie," she said, folding her arms. Her eyes slowly, very slowly started to grow orange. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The man continued to stare at her, then quickly moved, bringing his arm back. Cadence's eyes shifted down toward the glinting object that moved at his side, sawing through the air with the movements of his arms as he careened toward her. A knife. Of course.

They never seemed to learn.

Cadence waited until he got close before setting off a blast of hear vision into the attacker's hand. The strike smacked the knife out of his hand, sending it careening back over his shoulder. He stopped in his tracks, looking at her in surprise, seconds before the pain registered.

A scream tore from his throat, eyes bulging out as he turned his smoking hand to get a good look at the damage she'd caused. Then he clenched his teeth and turned his glare to Cadence, who continued to stand calmly before him. With a loud cry, he brought back his uninjured hand and threw a punch toward Cadence's head. She ducked out of the way and kicked him swiftly in the chest with enough power to knock him back, to bruise him, but not enough to break any bones or send him into the wall behind her.

Nevertheless, he got back to his feet. This time, thankfully, a look of fear came to his eyes. Just enough so that he understood the trouble he'd gotten himself into, but not enough to get him to completely stop. Cadence didn't take off her bag as she made quick work of the would-be mugger.

She lifted her bag toward her face as he moved to punch her, absorbing the blow of the punch. As he was distracted by the bag suddenly appearing in front of him, Cadence leaned back on one foot and slipped her body around in an illusion, striking him in the head. The blow flipped the man to the ground. She placed her bag atop of him and used it to flip herself over onto her feet.

He worked to get himself back to his feet, only for her to sweep his legs out from beneath him. He crashed hard to the ground once more while Cadence swept him up in her legs, trapping him beneath her with her. "So, I'm going to give you a choice," she said calmly. "I'll take you to jail kicking and screaming or I'll take you to jail knocked out."

The attacker continued to struggle.

Cadence sighed. "Fine, but you're just going to make it more fun for me." She got to her feet, grabbing the man by the collar and lifted him to his feet with ease. As she did so, something fell out the pocket of his jacket. She felt the man still beneath her grasp, tensing all his muscles at once. _Interesting. _She pressed her foot over the item, to ensure it was in her possession. Then carefully knelt to pick it up.

Tilting it this way and that, Cadence examined what looked like to be a bracelet with blue light signatures coming off it. She held it closer, examining the inside rim of the bracelet. It was clearly made from high quality tech, something she'd come across within STAR Labs, but didn't have Cisco's imprint of work on.

_Definitely something he should look at, _Cadence thought. She tilted her head back toward the attacker, eyebrows rising when she saw the sudden hostility on his face. Even more angry than he'd been before. And yet, he continued to hold still beneath her grasp, defiance radiating off him in waves so strong that Cadence could practically read their heat signatures.

"Quick question," she drawled, bringing him down to her eye level "Did you attack me because you thought I was weak? Or was there someone who sent you?"

The attacker struggled to respond, the collar of his shirt digging into his neck. Shrugging, Cadence teleported to the CCPD and dropped him off at the front desk, teleporting in the same split-second back to the front doors of the CCPD where she strolled in calmly.

"Good morning, Jordan," she greeted the young woman sitting at the front desk. She smiled, noticing Jordan jump, and quickly looked like she knew what she was doing, managing to fling a pile of papers into the air as she did so. Jordan's brown eyes widened in surprise, clasping her hands over her mouth as the papers rained down like confetti. "Don't worry, it's just me," Cadence reassured, though she couldn't help but laugh.

Cadence didn't think it was possible for anyone to be as jittery as Barry was when he was faced with difficult questions to answer or working to come up with an excuse for the reasons as to why he was late that day. Nevertheless, he seemed to tremble anytime Captain Singh seemed to even glance his way. Jordan didn't seem to be much better, since her first day of the internship, she seemed unable to come to terms with the fact she was then the 'face' of the CCPD so to speak. The first face anyone saw when they came into the precinct, making the shy woman seemingly even shyer.

Why Captain Singh had opted to hire her when she could hardly string a few words together without eventually speaking so quietly people had to lean into her personal space to hear her, Cadence didn't know. But when she wasn't disturbed, Jordan managed to get more work done than any seasoned officer confined to a desk job.

"Oh." Jordan Walker brushed her white-blonde hair back from her face, flashing Cadence a wary smile. "I thought it might've been Captain Singh. I'm uh, I'm a bit behind with my work."

"Is my voice as gruff as Captain Singh's?" She teased, leaning against the desk. "I mean, I get the intimidating thing, but last time I checked, he was a little bit taller than me." She shrugged. "Not by much but…" she trailed off, noticing Jordan frantically pointing behind her. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

"Yes, that would be the case," Captain Singh said, his gruff voice making Cadence's shoulders hunch up to her ears. She gave Jordan a 'thanks a lot' look, making the young woman smile and shrug helplessly. Cadence slowly turned around to face her boss, who looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. A raised eyebrow that befitted the expectant and slightly suspicious expression on his face greeted her. "Good morning, Miss. Nash."

"Good morning, Captain," Cadence replied, quickly bringing her hands onto the strap of her bag. She didn't want to risk him finding the piece of technology she'd found, not before she got Cisco to look it over. Especially not when she had any answers for it.

Captain Singh motioned toward her with a stack of papers in her hand. She could only imagine what it was he had been tasked with now that there were more measures put in place to keep the city safe. "There's a case already waiting for you. Please try to be on time." He then paused and looked curiously at her, down at the papers, at her, then at his watch. Then back to her with narrowed eyes, realizing that she wasn't, in fact, late. "I just messaged you, how'd you get here so fast?"

"I teleported." Her cheeks twitching, Cadence had no idea how she managed to say it with such a straight face. Nevertheless, she kept one hand clamped around the strap of her bag, the other holding the metallic item firmly in her palm, thumb rubbing against the sides of the contraption.

Captain Singh looked at her for a long, tense moment, the stern expression on his face not changing. "You really need to work on your jokes, Miss. Nash," he said flatly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

She went to her office, ready to get to work.

It took her a long time for her to pinpoint why she felt so uneasy about the attack...he didn't seem surprised to know she was a metahuman.

* * *

"Do you think he'll want to play?"

Brady planted his hands on his hips, doing his best not to roll his eyes, glance at the ceiling, or make any face in irritation for what Leah would do to him in response. He didn't have to glance over his shoulder to know she was speaking about Conner, who sat on the bleachers of the gym, chin held in his hands, watching the rest of their gym class apathetically. As he'd done since the school years started.

"No, I don't think he'd want to play," Brady replied. "Just like he didn't want to play the first five times you asked me." Leah scowled and heaved the basketball she was holding at his face. Brady reached up and caught it before it could smack him in the nose. "Watch it."

"I don't need your attitude, Brady, I was just asking a question," Leah replied. Brady made a face back, taking a glance around the gym filled with his classmates as they bounced basketballs, waiting for gym to start. "What's with you, anyway? You've been super mean lately."

"I'm not being mean," Brady weakly protested.

"I mean, I know you're mad at Barry—"

"—Forget it," Brady cut in. He turned a sharp glance to his friend. "And I'm not being mean, I'm just tired."

"Ohh." She nodded slowly. "All that training you've been doing with Black Blade, right?"

"Well, Oliver's not going to do it. He's got his own stuff going on." Brady bounced the basketball at his side and started to walk in a circle around Leah, at least making it seem like he was doing something so their teacher didn't yell at him. "And, you know, it makes him too busy for Conner."

"He's the mayor," Leah reminded him. "And he's the Green Arrow and—"

"—And Conner's mom died because of him," Brady interrupted. Leah closed her mouth, nodded. That wasn't anything that could be disputed. Samantha Hawke died, it was all because of the danger that Oliver brought into his life. Had he kept away from Conner like Sam had originally asked, none of it would've happened. Adrian Chase wouldn't have targeted Oliver, he wouldn't have kidnapped Sam, Conner, Thea, Team Arrow, and everyone close to him to get back at him.

Sam had died.

Merlyn had died.

Thea was in a coma.

And there was trauma they wouldn't be able to come back from. How Conner managed to see Adrian Chase's suicide and continue to act normally, Brady wasn't sure. But he couldn't imagine the pain of having to then know it was his father's mere presence that caused it and then be shipped away to a different city because it was 'safer'. If that's' what having a dad was like, then Brady was perfectly fine with the setup he had, his mom, Ryder, and the rest of Team Flash…as small as they'd become.

"And training with Black Blade isn't bad," Brady continued. "But having to do it so late at night kind of sucks." He shrugged. "But if it's the time my powers are the strongest…may as well train when I'm at my strongest, right?"

"What about the training your mom has been putting us through?" Leah waved a hand when Brady raised an eyebrow, unsure of whether she was complaining. "I mean, you've been making a lot of progress with it."

"And I'll get even better with Black Blade's help," Brady insisted. "Maybe stop that Samuroid guy that's running around." He winced at the sound of the coach's whistle blowing, missing another bounce of the basketball. It bounced off his foot and rolled across the gym as his classmates raced to the far side of the gym, ready for drills. "Darn."

"You better get that before Coach Hines forces you to run laps," Leah said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she moved to join the class.

Brady rolled his eyes and jogged to catch the ball. Stopping only when it struck a Native American girl in the ankle. She looked down at the ball, it having stopped her own bounce pass, nearly smacking her int eh face. "Sorry," Brady apologized, hurrying to retrieve his ball. "It got away from me."

"No problem," the girls replied. She took the ball and held it out to Brady. "You might want to be careful with it, though. I know in soccer you're used to playing with your feet, but I never pegged you to be such a butterfingers with basketball."

Brady's face screwed up as he took the ball back from her. She clearly seemed to know a lot about him, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her in class. "Sorry," he apologized again. The two started to the other side of the gym. "I don't think I've seen you before, are you new?" The girl snorted. "What?"

"I've been in your class since the first grade," she replied. Brady felt his face enflame at his mistake. "Not that I expect you to notice, you always seemed to be too busy for everyone else."

Now it was Brady's turn to snort. "Have you been hanging out with Alicia?"

"Right, like I'd hang out with Miss. Popularity," The girl replied with a roll of her eyes. She brushed her long-braided pigtails behind her ears. "Like you, she probably wouldn't even notice if I was there."

"I noticed," Brady defended himself.

"Oh yeah?" She smiled, not seeming to be annoyed but finding amusement in the conversation. "Then what's my name?" Brady clenched his teeth, trying to stall for time. What _was _her name? He had to have noticed ifs he was in his class. "Too busy traveling the world, huh?" She came to the back of the line that the girls lined up in for drills across the floor. At the front, Alicia and her best friend, Rachel, whispered quietly together, glancing over their shoulder towards the girl. "So what made it so that you were able to stay in school with the rest of us normal people? Don't you usually show up in October?"

"We didn't go on vacation this year," Brady replied. He racked his brain, still trying to figure out what her name was. It couldn't be _that _hard.

"Gotcha." They moved forward in line as, with each sharp blast of the whistle, the took their basketballs and dribbled down to one end of the court and back. "My name's Stella, by the way. Stella Luna."

Brady nodded, bouncing from foot to foot, unable to hold still—he was sure he got that from Ryder—while trying to stave off the fatigue that threatened to make him fall asleep on his feet. All the extra training with Black Blade was certainly starting to take its toll, but it would be worth it now that the Samuroid was around. If Flash didn't come back soon, and it didn't look like he was, then they'd need to be at the top of their game to take him down.

_And, _Brady thought. _You need to be there for mom. I can't lose her. _He shoved his fists into his armpits, continuing to bounce back and forth. Leah look over at him and gave him a look before reaching her hand behind her back. All at once, Brady felt his feet become nailed to the floor and glared at her.

Her eyebrows shot upwards, before she stuck out her tongue. Brady twisted his mouth aside and moved to the front of the boys' line, standing next to Leah. She shot a glance at him and he shrugged in response, a grin coming to his face. Leah nodded subtly, understanding the silent challenge he posed. Finally, the classmates that came before them came back to the line.

Brady started to move forward but found it almost impossible to move his feet while Leah took off like a rocket, bouncing the ball next t her. Brady glared at her retreating back and waited 'til she was far enough away so that her range of power was lowered. He raced after her, bouncing the ball at his side as he moved. He caught up to her quickly, and held out his left hand, twisting his wrist. As he did so, a shadow ball, the tiniest of shadow balls, moved toward her and struck the side of the basketball.

A strangled cry escaped Leah's mouth as she reached to keep the ball form getting away from her. They reached the other end of the court, turned, and started back to the line they came from, all the while the cheering from their classmates reaching around them.

"Cheater!" Leah called.

"Look who's talking," Brady called back. Out the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flash of light in her hand. Saw she had conjured a dagger and was about to throw it toward his ball. Brady phased at the last second, the familiar warping sensation as the blade passed through him and the ball and petered out of sight. They made it back to their lines at the same time and slowed to move to the back. "Show off," he said, pressing a hand to his hip to catch his breath.

"Back atcha," Leah replied.

"Nice run," the girl said. She hugged her basketball in front of her and shrugged. "For someone who can only do things with his feet."

"And you're an expert?" Brady shot back.

The girl smiled and almost impish smile. "I've been on the basketball team for the past year," she explained. "Maybe you've been too busy to notice everyone else around you." With that, she took off at her turn to dribble the ball, making a show of passing it between her legs and spinning around as if warding of fa defender when she reached the other end.

_Maybe, _Brady thought. _I was too quick to call Leah the show off. _The rest of class continued in drills before they were dismissed to the locker rooms to get showered and changed before going back to class. Conner straddled the bench as he waited for Brady to finish getting changed.

"Who was that girl you were talking to?" Conner asked, tracing swirls in the grain of the wooden bench with his fingertip.

"Your girlfriend, dude," Brady replied. He smiled teasingly at Conner, pulling a brush through his hair. He flipped it around and poked the handle of the brush into Conner's chest. "You don't recognize your own girlfriend?" Conner rolled his eyes, pushing the brush away, though Brady couldn't help but notice the flush on his cheeks and felt a wave of relief. It at least looked like he was getting back to normal. At least acting a little more normally, he couldn't remember the last time Conner and Leah were around each other without blushing red as a tomato. "Or did you mean that other girl?" At that, Conner nodded. "You don't know her? She said she's been in our class since first grade."

"Well, you and I didn't become friends until third grade," Conner pointed out.

And to think, since then, they'd been through more than any other kids their age. Brady wouldn't trust his secret identity to anyone else. Conner took it all in stride and even helped run through different means of trying to find other metas in their school to help them stay safe. And was the one who came up with the 'bar system' of figuring out how strong metas were.

"I don't know," Brady said. He shrugged, closing his locker door. "She said her name was Stella Luna or something like that."

"Stella Luna?" Conner repeated. He blinked blankly before his face screwed up. "You mean like that bat book?" Brady blinked once, looking back at his best friend, who started to grin. "I think she was messing with you, dude." Brady scowled as the two left the locker room, meeting with the rest of their class to walk back to their classrooms. "Well, just point her out to me."

Brady craned his neck to find the girl standing apart from the rest of their classmates, looking down at her phone. "Her." Brady pointed.

"Oh, you mean Rose?" Conner pointed over his shoulder. "That's Rose Canton." Brady nodded and let out a quiet, "Oh." Conner slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Did you want to talk to her or something?"

"No," Brady said quickly. "But you can."

"Me? Why?"

"Make sure she's not someone we need to know about," Brady replied then quickly added, "For the list I mean." Conner shrugged and nodded. But there was a glint in his eye that Brady didn't miss. He started to call him out for it when Coach Hines called out, "Braden Nash? I need you in my office."

Brady immediately turned, hearing his full name. He seldom ever heard it unless he as in trouble or something was going on. Something heavy settled in the pit of his stomach and he looked to Conner before catching Leah's and Alicia's eye as well. Aware that all eyes were on him, accompanied by the collective, "ooh" that came whenever someone was deemed to be in some sort of trouble, Brady followed Coach Hines to his office.

"There's a phone call for you," Coach Hines explained, motioning to the phone. "Something about your mom."

Brady's breath suddenly caught in his throat. Something about his mom? What did that mean? Was it like the phone call that Conner got? Did his nightmare finally come true? Was the trauma of seeing his mother's lifeless body on the ground, not knowing it was Burnout, not enough? With a shaking hand, Brady grabbed the phone and put it to his ear.

He took in a deep breath before asking, "Hello?", relief practically making him collapse when he heard Cadence say, "Hey, it's me." He closed his eyes to steady himself then asked, "Did I leave the toaster on again?"

"No, no. I'm coming to your school. I need you to be ready when I get there."

"Why? What's going on?"

"We need to go to the CCPD. Right now."

Brady didn't respond. He had an idea of what it was that'd have his mom come to take him out in the middle of the day. Something he wasn't quite sure how to feel about. On one hand, it'd keep his mom from looking as sad as she always did, despite how much time she put into making sure everyone else and herself was happy. (She was at least happier than she had been). But on the other hand, he felt nothing but intense anger in the pit of his stomach, the anger he tried to—and successfully—ignored for the past six months no matter how many times someone brought him up.

Barry was home.

* * *

Across Central City a large, electrical cloud ripped across the sky. Lightning flashed as a dark cloud slowly started to swirl open, growing bigger by the second. Residents of Central City stopped and stared as the cloud continued to increase in size. Lightning flashed, starting off as harmless, distant strobes of white. Before morphing into long fingerlike cracks that streaked toward the ground.

The first bolts crashed off the tops of light poles, sending sparks everywhere. Then they reached the ground, stretching across the ground like fingers of a prisoner, clawing its way to freedom. Cars screeched to a halt, running into each other in their haste to get out of the way of the cloud. Screeching filled the air as a Central City Bus tried frantically to steer out of the way of the stopped cars and the opening cloud.

It came to a stop just beside the cloud, a low banging sound erupting from within as the riders on the bus frantically made their way to the front of the bus, trying in vain to get out. The cloud engulfed the bus, at the same time an electrical field opened. Just as it had before Barry went into the Speed Force, red and yellow lightning shot out in all directions.

The lightning stopped and a single bolt careened out the center of the electrical field, and through the streets of Central City, moving so fast that a straight line melted in the center of the road. Glass on all nearby cars immediately blew outward, showering the streets in what looked like glitter.

The bolt of lightning continued a straight and narrow path, until it had no choice but to stop. Until something got in the way of a truck coming up the road. The driver turned from glancing at the rearview mirror and toward the road at the sudden scream from his son in the passenger seat. He looked up and found that same lightning streak coming toward him and slammed on the brakes.

He hit the brakes so hard that the back end of the truck started to swerve back and forth, fishtailing as the truck tried to stop before hitting whatever it was that was coming toward them.

_Thunk!_

Sucking in a deep breath, the man slowly, very slowly opened his eyes. The engine continued to run, a revving against whatever it was that was stopping them. He slowly looked up and locked eyes with a scruffy looking man who leaned against the truck. The first thing that struck him was that the man wasn't reacting to the heat of the truck, the engine had been running for over an hour and the man's hands were placed flat against the hood.

The second thing that struck him was how…empty the man's eyes were. Haunted almost. As if he'd seen many things that no one would ever dare to see that he'd experience for the rest of his life. His chest heaved as he looked in at the truck driver and his son, shifting back and forth over their faces, a long, ugly scar that cut across the man's chest branched and splintered as if he'd been struck by lightning or lashed by a tree branch.

"Holy shit," the truck driver's son murmured.

The truck driver was too stunned to reprimand his son.

He could only watch as a very tired, very naked, Barry Allen gaped at him and his son before slowly pitching backwards to the asphalt.

* * *

**A/N: **So, if you remember in an earlier Flash story, I had mentioned a Rose Canton. I'm retconning what I did back then to have her be one of Brady's classmates. But, as you can see, there's a lot going on with some new people introduced; Mallory-though she's reintroduced-, Jordan Walker with the CCPD, and now Rose. They've all got certain roles to play as this story goes on and I hope you guys are excited to see it.

Barry's back, but don't worry, you'll see how he got out of the Speed Force in his POV. And Black Blade was mentioned again, you'll see just waht he and Brady have been up to, now that he's a bit more hands on in this story. Black Blade's plot worked better in this one than what I'd been doing with Friction, so I hope you all are excited for that as well.

Cheers,

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**DarkHel145:** You're also going to see form his POV how he got out of the Speed Force and what, on his side, leads up to it. His points of being in the Speed Force have been fun for me and I can't help but want to really go into how things were for him. It's a shame the show didn't give us that chance.

**Ethan: **You'll see what happens to have Barry taken out of the Speed Force from his POV and what will ultimately happen to Savitar because of it. Though I can't say that, for Barry, it's make much sense.

**yummers: **Thanks, glad you like it!

**spinquin142: **Unfortunately, I had to push the Wells' and DeVoes back one more chapter. Thanks, I'm glad you like how the mind meld had been going along with everything. It's a big point to keep the influence of traveling to other Earths together. I hope the pay off is worth it for you! :)


	6. Return of The Flash

**05**

_Return of The Flash_

* * *

The news was already buzzing around Central City. Everywhere Clifford DeVoe looked, there was a student with their head buried in their phone, whispering something about 'The Flash' and the lightning cloud that had opened above the city bus.

Had they known it was carefully orchestrated, they probably would've started asking questions. If they were _smart, _they would've asked questions. Would've wondered. Wondered how it was possible that something so perfectly crafted could have gone so well. And, as it was, they didn't know for sure it was The Flash that was back. But that there was _something _resembling a lightning strike that shot out from the opening and shot across the streets and disappeared. It came up on that silly blog, anyway. Comments pouring in about what they may or may not have seen.

Not that the Flash blog was any sort of hard-hitting news. But it was the best way to know there was something that they may have missed. That he may not have thought about. Not that it was possible. _I think of everything, _DeVoe thought.

"Well, it looks like they've figured things out sooner than we thought they would. They were smart…using that quark sphere to bring Mr. Allen out of the Speed Force." Marlize DeVoe smoothed her hair back over her face and grasped the handles of her husband's wheelchair, carefully navigating them through the crowded hallways of Central City University. She smiled and waved to the students that recognized her, quickly shouting their greetings before they hurried off to their next class, to the dining hall, their dorms, or whatever it was that had them racing around mindlessly. "I didn't think that was the way they were going to go."

"That's because you don't know every little facet, every little detail of their lives," Clifford DeVoe replied. He tilted his head back, looking at his wife with a loving smile of which she easily returned. He brought up a withered, shaky hand, to place on her own. "Leave all the thinking to me, my dear. I just need to ensure there aren't any other anomalies that may form."

"I thought you said you've thought of everything?" Marlize teased.

DeVoe tightened his grasp against hers. The corner of his mouth turned up, the other side staying still. Almost as if his mouth were paralyzed, much like the lower half of his body seemed to be. Even on his good days, the atrophying of his muscles was a constant reminder of what he'd had…and what he could have. So long as everything worked out to plan, it was something he didn't have to worry about much longer. Soon he'd be able to stand and walk and…maybe even run. He'd be able to use what others took for granted and showed them how life could be better.

They didn't know what they were missing, and he'd make sure they knew it.

"I have," DeVoe replied. "I'm simply assimilating the thought that they may be able to come up with something I've never thought of."

Marlize chuckled to herself. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the side of DeVoe's head. "I don't think that's possible, my dear," she said. "You think of everything." She stood up, lowering her voice as they continued with the flow of students towards the dining hall. "What are we going to do next? I don't think they're going to be able to defeat that Samuroid."

"No, they will," DeVoe said. He removed his hand from Marlize's grasp and dropped it to the arms of his wheelchair. Started to tap his fingers up and down in a staccato rhythm that morphed into what sounded like a marching rhythm. His fingers repeatedly twitched, he couldn't control it. He hadn't bene able to control anything in a while. _But now I have all the power, they'll figure out who's the one they should be looking to. _"That's all part of the plan. They have to defeat the Samuroid. They just need to figure out how they're going to do it. But it's only a matter of time."

Marlize let out a short breath, pressing her lips together. She steered her husband into the dining hall and the two went through the line to get their food. DeVoe carefully balanced his growing tray on his lap, willing his knees not to start bouncing to knock everything over. Finally, Marlize turned them around and headed into the sitting area to find someplace to bask in the silence of their victory. That is, until DeVoe spotted Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan sitting at a table by themselves.

DeVoe reached down a hand, grasping the wheels and keeping them from moving. "Clifford?" Marlize moved to his line of vision. She bent, looking him in the eye, her own filled with concern. "Is everything alright? Do you need to rest?"

"No," DeVoe replied slowly, voice gravelly with his South African accent. "I'm fine." He pointed towards their colleagues and looked meaningfully at Marlize. She looked at them, back to him, and parted her lips, about to say something. DeVoe tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow upwards. Marlize smiled back and moved behind him once more, pushing him towards their colleagues.

Harrison looked up and gave a short wave as they approached, setting his newspaper aside. DeVoe noticed and smiled at the two as they came closer. "You'd think with the way today's youth are going about that the primitive form of newspaper reading would've gone by the wayside."

"It depends on what you're looking for," Harrison replied.

Marlize parked DeVoe at an empty spot at the table and gracefully lowered herself beside Tess. She looked Harrison in the eye as she asked, "And did you find anything interesting?"

Harrison regarded her out the corner of his eye. A mischievous look if anyone was paying as close attention as DeVoe was. "Not yet. But I'm sure I'll know it when I find it."

"Ignore him." Tess turned a sarcastic smile toward her husband, making Harrison's eyebrows twitch upwards in amusement. "There's more than enough that'll hold his attention but it's always the newspaper he can't seem to take his attention off of."

"The newspaper is never going to go out of print, I promise you that." Harrison leaned back, folded his arms over his chest. He crossed his legs, bouncing his foot. "Even if it all turns digital, the newspaper is going to be something that will always be around to give us all the information we need to know."

"He does have a point," DeVoe spoke up. He watched Harrison as closely as Harrison watched him, he thought. There was always something in the man's blue eyes that seemed like he was laughing at everyone else. Or at least that he knew something no one else did. DeVoe understood that intimately. With his own profession and studies, he'd liked to pursue and how he'd share those pursuits with the rest of the world. "There are such things that may seem archaic to those with…little minds, but it doesn't mean they'll always go out of style."

"Clifford here seems to like that the fact that he can, sometimes, live in the dark ages," Marlize said. She reached across the table and lovingly patted DeVoe's hand. "There's something to be said about how I had to practically force him to get a cell phone."

"Ah!" DeVoe shook his head. "It makes people become attached to those silly little devices that seem to zap all intelligence from their minds." He brushed his fingers across his forehead, flipping his hair back from his face as he did so. A move to imitate the younger students he'd had in his class lately. Tess and Harrison chuckled quietly. "I concur that in a state of emergency it shall come in handy, but the means of having all that information at their fingertips and they use it to post…silly pictures." He shook his head "Can make one want to lose their mind."

"As if you even had one," Marlize teased.

Once more, Harrison and Tess laughed quietly. The conversation then switched to one about their students that seemed to have their noses in their laptops more than their books. DeVoe listened to the quick back and forth of the conversation, wondering what it was they had to say. They all seemed to be on the same page about their ideas of technology in the classroom, however, DeVoe was more interested in what Harrison had to say. A man who worked in technology and science on supercomputers and the next piece of technology that'd advance the world.

_And with a mind that intelligent he just uses it to make the world even more disproportionate as it is. The lazy become lazier and the smart become…_He hadn't quite figured that out yet. They may be as dumb as those that were lazy, if they continued to invent such things to make it so that the natural human life relied so much on technology and computers. _They couldn't fend for themselves if they were ever faced with it, their wits…_His hands clenched into fists in his lap.

DeVoe was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a low peal of a cell phone. A frown immediately graced his lips, irritation seizing his muscles, making them tense as much as it would if a student had interrupted his lecture. His irritation melted away, when he saw Tess shift to the side to go through her purse for her phone. DeVove lifted his gaze and exchanged a look with Martlize, who hid her smile with a pass of her hand through her hair—despite how every strand of her hair was perfectly in place.

He waited, watching the expression on Tess's face change to one of surprise, her phone pressed firmly to her ear. "Mm!" Tess's eyebrows rose. She nearly choked on her mouthful of food, quickly putting her fork down as she looked at the face of her screen. She motioned to Harrison, who slowly lowered his plastic cup from his mouth. His eyebrows rose, blue eyes shining as if she already knew what he was going to say. "I'm sorry," She quickly apologized to DeVoe and Marlize. She pushed her tray aside, tucking a loose chunk of hair behind her ear. "But we have to go."

"Is anything wrong?" Marlize asked with just the right amount of concern in her voice.

_If they were smart, _DeVoe thought, the side of his mouth turning up once more. _They'd realize that we already know. That we're waiting. _He felt his cheeks start to twitch with the force of his smile. But they weren't smart. No one was smarter than him, and never would be.

"No, everything's fine," Tess reassured her. She got to her feet and discreetly showed the screen to Harrison, making him get up as well, but at a much more leisurely place. "There's just something we have to take care of."

"Yes, we're sorry to have to cut things short," Harrison agreed. "But it seems that we have some business to attend to." He turned back to Marlize and DeVoe, his pale pink lips twitching back into a smile.

_A knowing smile, _DeVoe thought, slightly inching his chin upwards. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Not right now. But we'll let you know," Tess said. "Thank you for the offer. We'll see you later."

Marlize smiled and nodded, trailing the two with her eyes as they left the dining hall. She waited until they were gone before looking to her husband once more, who looked back at her with the same smile he couldn't seem to shake.

No, he was happy with the way things were going.

It was only a matter of time until they could move onto the next part of their plan. As it was, there was something to celebrate.

Barry Allen had finally returned to Central City.

* * *

Everyone converged on the CCPD at once. Anyone who knew of Barry's being on sabbatical would've been surprised to see how Team Flash appeared to be on edge as soon as they arrived. But they were those that knew Barry was on sabbatical and there were those that knew the truth, that he'd been in the Speed Force and suddenly appeared once more. However, that was on a need to know basis and when DA Cecile Horton had received the news that Barry had suddenly shown up in a nearby city she had to keep it to herself and Team Flash.

She nervously waited for them to arrive, pacing back and forth in the foyer of the precinct, waving off every one of Jordan's attempts to get her coffee or anything that would keep her busy. "No, Jordan, I'm fine. I'm just waiting for…" she trailed off when she spotted Joe coming through the front door with Iris, Cisco, Caitlin, Cadence, Wally, Tess, Harrison, and Brady. "Thanks! Just…go back to your work, please." Jordan nodded and scurried back behind the receptionist desk, flipping papers back and forth. Her eyes lifted curiously to watch the group as they approached Cecile.

"Is he…?" Joe asked.

Cecile motioned for him to be quiet as she led the group past the receptionist's desk and back to an empty room. As they went, Iris couldn't help but mutter, "I can't believe you went ahead and did this."

"You weren't listening either way," Cisco replied, voice filled with exasperation. Clearly, he was tired of having to defend himself. Or else, Cecile thought, it was bitterness she heard in his voice. Bitterness of something she couldn't quite place. "You were going to stop it."

"You could've killed us all," Iris hissed back.

"I don't know, Iris," Caitlin started slowly, voice soft. She looked at Iris over her shoulder as she strolled along with Cisco. Cecile turned to look at her, surprised to hear her voice. It surprised her even more to have seen Caitlin when the group arrived. Last she'd heard about her, she had been Killer Frost and tried to kill them all. But Killer Frost didn't seem to be there, Cecile reasoned. She could sense it, there wasn't anything sinister coming from her, nothing cold radiating off her. Actually, she seemed to hide behind Cisco as the two walked together, her shoulder brushing just behind his as they moved. "It seemed like we were close," Caitlin said.

"We?" Iris demanded. She turned toward Caitlin, eyes narrowed. She came to a stop, making the group halt as well. Now that there were away from the rest of the precinct, there was no point in hiding their conversation, or pent up contempt for each other. Cecile glanced at her watch impatiently. "And where have you been for the past six months?"

"Iris," Joe warned. "She was just trying to help. She was the one who came up with the idea to have…Cisco use the Speed Force Bazooka to…" he trailed off, looking to Cisco as fir for clarification. "Use some sort of a quark sphere to shoot into the Speed Force and bring him back."

"Yeah, sis, if it wasn't for Caitlin, we wouldn't have been able to even come up with a plan to even entertain the idea," Wally agreed.

Iris raised her gaze to the ceiling, shaking her head. She brought up her hands, pressing her fingertips to her temples. "Guys, we need to concentrate on stopping the Samurai who is trying to destroy the city, not on Barry."

"What is your deal?" Brady finally snapped. Iris whirled to face him, a little startled to find she didn't have to look as far down as she used to, to look him in the eye. "It's like you don't even want him back! Look, we get it, okay, Barry's been a part of your life forever, but you don't get to decide what we do about him. He's not your family anymore! Not just yours!" He glanced at his mom then back to Iris, who did the same. "And that's what this is about, isn't it? That you're, I don't know, in love with him or something and it hurts to know that you lost him twice."

"Hey!" Joe snapped, waving an arm down between them. "That's enough! We don't need to turn on each other like this. Not when…" he took in a deep breath, eyes turning to Cecile. "Not when…we've got some more important things to handle." He stepped closer to her. "Are you sure it's him?"

Cecile shrugged, letting out a sigh that was a mixture of insecurity and impatience. "State Police picked him up on the 112. Somewhere outside of Beale City. If it's not him, it's someone who looks exactly like him. But because of the reports of that electrical cloud…I…it'd be a coincidence if it wasn't."

Cadence's eyebrows rose before falling into an expression of concern. "Beale City?" she repeated. "That's over 300 miles from here."

"Yeah, one of the cops is a Keystone Vet," Cecile explained. "He says he recognized Barry. So, I'm pretty sure it's him." She led the team toward the last room at the end of the hall. "But…I want you all to prepare yourselves."

"For what?" Caitlin asked.

Cecile took in a deep breath. For anything. For everything. She wasn't sure the best words to explain it. She was new to the metahuman game, new to Team Flash, and yet even she knew from looking at him that there was something wrong with Barry. If it were in fact Barry. She hoped it was, for all their sakes. The Samuroid was doing nothing to keep the nerves of the city at bay.

There were too many things that metas had done over the past years that kept everyone jumpy. But the appearance of the Samuroid seemed to send everyone into a tailspin, especially considering the destruction the Samuroid managed to create with only the tip of a sword touching the ground.

Cecile brushed her hair behind her shoulders before pushing open the door to the room. She stood aside, letting Team Flash move in beside her. She sighed quietly though her nose, watching their faces as they passed by her and laid their eyes on Barry. Barry, who sat with his back to them, cross-legged on the floor. His arm shifted back and forth as he twirled the marker he gripped firmly between his fingers. Every time he moved, he made a new marking on the wall. All the walls were festooned with the markings he made, nameless shapes and figures that didn't have a rhyme or reason to them, but seemed to make sense to Barry, who hadn't stopped scribbling despite the others staring at him.

And yet, she wasn't quite sure it was Barry, and could understand why they'd be skeptical. His time in the Speed Force had aged him in some way, the unruly mustache and beard that grew in patches was certainly new, but it was the look in his eye that made her worry. A…haunted look. As if there was nothing there, but simultaneously as if he'd seen everything life had to offer and would never forget.

Who knew what had happened to him in the Speed Force. Who knew how much time had passed for him, if any had passed at all. Who knew if he'd remember what it was that he'd seen that prompted him to fulfill the need to draw around. She'd seen things like that before, those that had lost their minds and were compelled to do something out of the ordinary, to get a message across. But what the message was…it didn't even look like the brightest minds in Central City didn't seem to know.

She watched as their faces reacted in surprise to seeing Barry in front of them, waited for them to make the first move. She clasped her hands together in front of her, smoothing down the front of her skirt as she waited for someone to make the first move. Or, rather, it was fear that kept her from coming close to a metahuman who could move faster than she could think. She came across criminals with guns and some of the worst weapons she'd ever come across, but metas were something she hadn't come across personally.

She worked on the cases with them, represented them in court and sometimes had to be the one that worked to put them in jail. But she'd never come upon it face to face, it'd been a long time since she was out in the field. But to know the man she'd bene dating was the pseudo-father of the fastest man alive and the superhero that saved the city on a numerous basis? That wasn't quite easy for her to wrap her head around.

Joe was the first one to break the silence in the room. He moved close behind Barry, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Barry?" He asked.

Immediately, Barry turned at the sound of his name. He leveled his eyes on Joe, a smile making its way to his face. He looked to the group, his eyes taking in all of them, a friendly glimmer in his eyes. But nothing that appeared to be recognition. He slowly smiled, stood, and moved toward the

Barry stood. He continued to look over everyone, his smile widening. He ran a hand through his hair, then fixed his gaze on his team. _No, _Cecile realized. _He's looking right through them._

Barry's lips twitched. He ran a hand over his mouth, then back through his hair. Shook his head. "Nora shouldn't be here," he murmured, voice gravelly and low, as if he'd just woken up from a deep sleep.

"Your mom isn't here, Barry," Iris said. Her voice was soft, eyes wide with disbelief and…shame. Shame for not believing in everything that was being told to her. Shame for not believing Barry could actually be back, that there was a way he could be saved. "It's us…your friends." Barry looked at her, eyes continuing to bore through her. "You're home."

Barry shook his head and kept speaking, as if no one was talking to him. "Your honor, I'm innocent. I didn't do this, I didn't kill anyone." His voice was low, taking on as much emotion that Cecile had ever heard come from him. And she'd watched the deposition tapes from his case when his father had been arrested and Barry had been questioned. "Can you hear the stars?" His tone shifted so quickly that it made Cecile jump. "Singing? Rhyming? Chiming? Timing?" He squeezed his hands to his hair, grasping at the fringe that fell over his face, threatened to pull out each and every strand in the pain of what was swirling through his head. "Every hour, every minute." He then whirled to Joe, pointing directly at him. "You said the city was safe! That there was no residual danger. But that's not true!"

"Barry—" Joe said.

"What really happened that night?" Barry asked.

"The city is safe," Cadence insisted. She stepped toward Barry then stopped, looking the most uncertain Cecile had seen her in her short time of knowing the fire metahuman. "You saved us, you saved us all." She shook her head, taking a step back when Barry continued to spout off his nonsense, speaking faster and faster, rhyming almost all his words and continuing to pace back and forth. Every now and then, his outbursts would be loud, other times soft.

But he continued to repeat himself.

"I'm guessing this just isn't shock," Wally murmured to Caitlin.

She shook her head, sadness filling her eyes. "Shock is from a drop in blood pressure that affects your entire body," she explained. "This is neurological. Something's happened to him while he was gone." She shook her head. "I'm not sure what, but something."

"Could even simply be the presence of the Speed Force," Harrison explained. "It exists beyond space and time. To us, he's been in there for six months but for him it could be 10,000 years. All the time in isolation could've caused dementia."

Tess shook her head. "Dementia doesn't cause someone to continuously repeat the same words and phrases, just to question their surroundings and lapses in time. This is something different."

"So how do we find out?" Brady asked.

"We need to get him back to STAR Labs as soon as we can," Cisco declared.

Cadence nodded and stepped forward to grasp Barry's shoulder. The moment she touched him, it was like a bomb went off. Electrical current surged through the room, knocking Team Flash off their feet and into the walls behind them. Cecile crumpled to the ground, flinging her arm above her head as the glass in the door behind them shot out.

She could feel the surging wind pull at her clothes as she lay on the floor, slowly being pulled in by Barry's path around the room as he continued to run and run. "Cecile!" She looked up, seeing Joe crouch over her. He hovered over her, pulling her firmly into his chest to protect her from the wind. "Aare you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Cecile called back. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. But we've got to get out of here!" Joe grasped her elbow and heaved her to her feet. Hair whipping around her face, Cecile stood and pressed her back against the wall, watching as Barry continued to speed around the room, doing large laps.

Cisco threw his arms forward, punching breaches into the air in front of Barry's path. Every time a breach opened, Barry would swerve around it before continuing his path. As he ran, he continued to draw more of the symbols on the wall, arching up the wall, even managing to plaster one of them on Cisco's cheek as he ran past.

"It's not working," Cisco said through gritted teeth. "No matter how many breaches I open, he keeps swerving around it. He's moving too fast."

"Then I guess we'll have to move even faster," Wally declared. Lightning flashed through his eyes before he raced after Barry, his yellow lightning mixing in with Barry's golden-orange lightning trail.

"Cisco, get these guys to STAR Labs," Cadence declared, the tone in her voice immediately shifting to an authoritative one. "We'll meet up there!" Cisco nodded and threw open a breach. He grabbed Iris, Caitlin, Brady, Tess, and Harrison and led them through the breach.

Cecile looked toward Joe for any instruction but was cut off by one last blast of lightning that shot through the room before it disappeared; Barry and Wally had left the CCPD and were headed who knows where.

"Make sure the CCPD gets the word out," Cadence said to Joe and Cecile. "Last thing we need is for the news to try and twist this around to another Savitar situation."

"What are you going to do?" Cecile asked, blinking hard. She hadn't realized how much power one could take in if they were in the way of The Flash, Kid Flash, or any other speedster that came around. Being moved around was one thing but being hit by the shockwave of an attack was much different. Her legs quivered, working hard to keep herself upright, but finding them collapse beneath her.

Joe looped his arm around her and held her to his side. Keeping her upright as the lighting in the room dimmed then came back full force.

"Help Wally stop him," Cadence explained before turning to the side. As she turned, flames flickered at her hands and feet, moving up her body until she melted away into wisps of smoke that vanished as she teleported.

* * *

Cadence teleported to a nearby rooftop, switching to thermal vision as she looked for Barry's and Wally's lightning streaks navigating the city. She found them after a few seconds, watching them continue to shoot back and forth. Every now and then, Barry would give Wally the slip, making Wally suddenly take a sharp corner and shoot back in the direction that Barry suddenly went.

She held up her wrist and looked at the bracelet that sat around her wrist. She looked down at it and took in a deep breath. "I hope this still works," she murmured. Who knew what an accidental trip between Earths could do to technology made for Earth-1. Cadence hesitated for a moment then gave a quick flick of her wrist, turning it as if she were turning a key in the ignition. There was a brief spark of fire and within seconds, her suit shot out and covered her body. She raised her goggles from around her neck to cover her eyes, shifting her gaze aside so a map of the city became projected on he lenses inches from her eyes. "I'm tracking them around the waterfront. Wally's chasing after him but…Barry's just too fast."

_"All that time in the Speed Force must've given him an extra boost of power_," Caitlin remarked. _"Seeing his vitals through here, they're through the roof. Scary good even. I've never seen him move this fast before."_

_"Sure, you have, flying off the back of the Cosmic Treadmill. But it looks like my man isn't putting up much of a fight to get Wally off his tail,"_ Cisco agreed. _"His speed levels are maxing out. Whatever you did to him, Cade, it's like he's got an extra boost." _He paused. _"Or maybe it's something from the Fire Fall and that epic final attack you guys did together."_

"Thanks for that vote of confidence, Cisco," Cadence said. "But keep an eye on it, if he suddenly maxes out, we need to know before someone gets to him and gets a good look at his face." She shifted her gaze once more, continuing to track Wally and Barry as they took another lap around the city. "What's he doing?" She murmured.

_"It's like he's looking for something,"_ Brady's voice piped up over the communication link. _"The way he's running around is like there's something he's trying to follow after…"_ his voice trailed off after a moment. _"Do you think it might be something only he can see? Something that's only fast enough for him?"_

_"Then wouldn't Wally be able to see it?"_ Iris' voice then came on.

Cadence's heart sank into her stomach. She swallowed hard, shook her head. "Not unless it's another speedster…" she commented. She could still feel the dampness of the area Savitar had been holding her when he kidnapped her. Could still feel the wave of dread that washed over her when he revealed himself to her, having taken the place of Barry for who knows how long. "Like Savitar," she finally managed to say. "Barry was the only one who was able to see him before Savitar slowed himself down enough for the rest of us to see him." She blinked, leaning her head back as her comm-link blared in her ear. "What was that?"

_"Uh…"_ Cisco stammered. She heard frantic typing, as if Cisco were trying to search throughout the city's security cameras. _"Uh, hold on. Got it! Samurai is back."_

_"It hasn't been a full day yet,"_ Brady protested. _"He said he'd level the city if we didn't give him the Flash."_

"So, let's give him what he wants," Wally said.

"No!" Cadence barked, watching as Wally's lightning streak started to break away from Barry's. It veered back in seconds. "I said I'd handle the Samuroid and I will. You need to keep on Barry. You're a speedster, you can handle it. Keep following him until he slows down, he'll have to do it eventually."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Just do it."

"Maybe Leah can help," Brady suggested. "Using her gravity powers to keep the Samurai from flying off?"

"No, I can't put her in that sort of danger," Cadence said. "Not yet. She hasn't trained as long as you have."

Brady sounded partially amused, partially frustrated. "But you can put _me _in that much danger?"

Cadence shrugged. "All I have to do is have another kid. I can't replace her for _her_ family." She laughed, already imagining Brady back in STAR Labs, pouting and turning away. "But you have an idea with using her gravity powers. It might be something we can look into."

"I can help."

"Stay there, until I say otherwise!"

Cadence teleported down from the rooftop and landed on the city street in front of the Samuroid. "I don't see the Flash," he murmured.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make do with me," Cadence replied. She watched as he took out his swords and in a flare of flashy movement, twisted them in his hands before striking a menacing pose. Cadence watched him for a moment before holding out her hand. Fire conjured around her hands before solidifying into swords of her own. "I just hope you can handle it."

"We'll see about it." The Samuroid replied.

The two leapt toward each other and became engulfed in a flurry of slinging swords. They crashed against each other, sending sparks out into a flurry as they did so. Cadence gritted her teeth as she worked to keep up with the slashes of the sword the Samuroied threw toward her. Her arms twisted this way and that, muscles screaming as she worked to take on each powerful blow the Samuroid sent.

_Come on, _she thought. _You can do this. You're not this weak, you've done this before. You've stopped guys bigger than this. Stronger. _She looked into the Samuroid's face as they moved back and forth across the street, working to overpower each other. Its eyes burned back into hers, gleaming red coals that only spurned her even further.

"I think you're not ready for this," The Samuroid said.

Cadence felt her temper spike. "We'll see about that," she murmured.

"Yes." The Samuroid brought back his arm, cocking his sword high above his head. "We will." He brought his sword down and as it connected with hers, it pulsed out a bright blue surge of energy, the same sort of energy that had knocked Team Flash off their feet during their encounter with the feudal monster.

Cadence felt herself flung through the air with the surge of energy crashing into her. She landed hard on the ground, rolling head over heels before finally coming to a stop. She whipped her sword up blocked herself form a slashing motion the Samuroid carved toward her, and knocked his sword aside.

But it only opened her up for him to take his other sword and ram it into her chest.

She gasped as the sword plunged into her chest then immediately brought back out. The Samuroid looked at her, retrieved his sword, and slung it into his sheath at his hip. "I'd hoped you'd put up a bigger fight, Firestarter," he remarked. "I guess I was wrong." Metallic wings slid out from his back and he took off into the air.

Frowning, Cadence pressed a hand to her chest and brought it away. Her eyebrows came together. No blood. _I'm not an expert, but everything tells me I should be bleeding right now. _It was then she noticed a smaller hand pressed to her back, the other on her elbow. She whipped her head around and gaped at Brady, who stood behind her in his suit, looking as shaken as she felt.

"Saved your life," Brady taunted. Though his voice was lighthearted, his pale face betrayed his worry for his mother.

Cadence's eyes widened behind her goggles as she looked at her son, then at the spot on the front of her suit that was undamaged. Then back at her son. She looked to the sky, where the Samuroid arched above the city, leaving a white trail behind as it went. Finally, Cadence turned back to Brady with a frown.

"I told you to stay back!" Cadence declared.

"But you need my help," Brady protested. "You can't do this on your own." He gestured behind him as Barry and Wally flashed right by, behind him. "And Wally's going to get tired at some point." He barely flinched when they shot back in the opposite direction.

"I heard that," Wally declared, voice almost inaudible as he ran by. He came back, coming to a stop as he pressed his hands to his knees. He gasped for air, pressing a hand to his stomach. "Man, I don't know what sort of juice this guy is on, but he's moving incredibly fast. Hate to say it, but I don't know if I can keep up."

"Do you have any idea of what he's doing?" Brady asked.

Wally shook his head. "Not for sure. But I think you're right, that he's following something we can't see. He keeps turning off down strange streets and he's going in a large circle around the city. But I can't see what he's after. And…it doesn't seem like he's going to stop anytime soon."

"He's going to keep running?" Brady asked, eyebrows rising.

"Not unless we find a way to stop him," Cadence said. She chewed her lower lip, turning her attention to her son. She eyed him for a few moments, mentally torn between treating him like her son or treating him like another member of Team Flash. She decided after a few seconds. "Help Wally, see if there's anything you can do to get him to stop running."

Brady snorted. "I'm good, but I'm not _that _good."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Your powers make you phase through things, right?" Brady nodded. "Just the same as Barry can." Again, Brady nodded. "But I bet there's something else you can do he can't." At that, Brady's expression changed to one of confusion, almost invisible beneath the shadow his hood cast along his face. "Can you reverse it? Turn yourself solid instead of phasing?"

He frowned. "I don't know, I've never tried."

"Well, try. I've got a Samurai to deal with." With that, Cadence teleported, throwing herself onto the Samurai's back. Its wings titled, metal sliding against metal as its blades switched, causing it to arch through the air. After a few moments, the two disappeared.

Brady turned back to Wally, who eyed him skeptically. Brady flexed his fingers, his gloves straining against his palms as he did so. "Can you really do that?" Wally asked. "Can you turn more solid than you can phase?"

"I don't know," Brady admitted. "But it's better than standing here and doing nothing." He held out his hand, Wally grabbed it and pulled Brady onto his back, wrapping his arms around Wally's neck, holding on tight as the speedster took off and raced after Barry.

_I'm so glad they gave me these goggles, _Brady thought, feeling the windburn against his cheeks as Wally raced him around. Not to mention the suit that Cisco had made for Wally's Kid Flash persona, the frictionless suit made it easier for him to keep his clothes from bursting into flame, let alone keeping the tag-along from bursting into flame as well.

Finally, Wally stopped running and deposited Brady on the ground. "I'll try to steer him your way, whatever it is he's chasing, maybe he'll chase after me when he sees how fast I'm going," he said and took off. But not before the parting words of, "Try to anti-phase," or whatever it is you'll do."

Brady nodded and watched as Barry and Wally arched around the city. Each pass they made blew out the windows of nearby cars and businesses as they moved faster and faster. All the while, Brady waited for the right time for them to come near him so that he could use his powers…well, in a way he'd never tried before. In a way he wasn't sure was possible.

How was he supposed to work out reverse-phasing when he didn't even have a real idea of how to phase in the first place? He'd been asleep and started floating the first time he'd used his powers and after that had managed to give his downstairs neighbors a fright with his legs frantically thrashing about as he tried not to fall completely through the floor.

"Come on, Brady, you don't have much time," he murmured, watching as Wally and Barry continued to move closer and closer. Passing by with increasing speed of each pass.

Finally, Wally slowed down enough so that Brady could see him, saw Wally nod and then speed up once more, with Barry chasing after him. A signal if there ever were one. He needed to do something fast.

Brady took in a deep breath.

He focused hard, focused on the parts of his body, the part of his powers he tapped into that made it so that he was able to phase. Worked on stopping what was coming straight for him. Barry continued to run right for him, eyes distant. Unseeing. Brady squeezed his eyes shut. _Focus, think of what it's like to be solid, rather than phasing. You can do this._

The temperature around him changed.

A gust of wind.

A hand reached out to press against his chest. Wanted to move through him.

Stopped.

_Wham!_

Brady opened his eyes, feeling something smack into him. It was a strange feeling, suddenly being so solid compared to being able to phase through anything that came toward him. In front of him, Barry stumbled backwards, bringing a hand up to his forehead. Brady's eyes widened behind his goggles as he watched the speedster stumble about. "Cool," he whispered. Barry scowled at Brady before taking off once more, Wally chasing after him.

"You think that's cool," Cisco's voice came over the communication system, the pride in his voice evident through Brady's ears. "You should see what I've done to your gadgets. Check out the Shadow Spiral for example."

"The what?" Brady's nose wrinkled.

"The yo-yo," Caitlin explained. Brady could practically see her roll her eyes from her tone of voice. "'You really need to stop making the names for these things so complicated."

"Hey! I'm an inventor, we need to name our gadgets!"

"Hello!" Brady demanded. He slipped his hand down to his yo-yo and held it out in his hand. It looked as normal as it always had. "You want me to check this out?"

"Yeah, press your thumb into it and stand back!"

Brady did as he was told. He gasped in surprise when there was a sudden jolt in his palm. His yo-yo suddenly slid apart, as if twisted open like a top of a jar and suddenly became heavier. Brady held onto the handle that slid out with both hands, nearly tipping over as the head of what was now a megaton hammer nearly crashed to the ground.

"Awesome!" Brady declared.

He hefted it, weighing it in his hand. It appeared that it'd be heavy, but found himself easily able to carry it. His eyes slid over the hammer, each side holding the spiral design that the sides of the yo-yo held, but the internal parts that held it together, the line that contributed to being the tether of the yo-yo, entangled together to create a tough piece of metal that seemed impenetrable. Along the handle of the hammer held imprints of his symbol.

"Head's up, Brady, they're coming your way again," Iris warned him.

Brady looked up when he heard the familiar _thwoom _of a speedster coming closer. Pressing his lips together, Brady tightened his grasp on the handle of the hammer and hefted it up behind him. He watched as the lightning trails came closer and closer to him. Wally suddenly shot aside, taking a side street while Barry continued forward. Wally raced around the block, then came back around from behind Brady, heading straight toward Barry.

The speedsters careened toward each other, coming closer as the seconds passed. Wally then sped out of the way, just in time for Barry to keep going forward, turning his head to follow Wally's movements. Brady saw Barry turn his head aside to follow Wally's path, giving Brady the perfect opportunity to cock his arm back and swing it forward.

_Thwack!_

There was a sickening crunch as Brady's hammer struck Barry across the head. He stopped on a dime and crashed to the ground. Blood poured from Barry's nose and mouth, healing within seconds. A low groan escaped his lips as he pressed his hands flat to the pavement and pushed himself up. He lifted his head, shook it once, blinked twice, and glanced at Brady, eyes widening in surprise.

"Barry?" Brady ventured, twisting his hands against the handle of his new weapon. His stomach twisted into knots; stuck between being excited at seeing Barry finally back to being himself, but another, bigger part of him was unsure of how to respond, stuck between a surge of resentment and frustration at how much they had to rely on him to get anything done but also knowing he was probably the only one who could help them at the moment.

"Brady?"

Barry mimicked Brady's tone. Cautious. Worried. Curious. Confused. All at once. He sat up, bringing a hand up to his nose. He looked at the blood that stained his fingertips then back to Brady. His expression changed to one of intense confusion. "Oh, my head." He pushed himself back. "What happened?"

"We don't have time for that now," Brady interrupted. "Mom needs your help."

Barry immediately clocked onto the seriousness of Brady's tone and pushed himself to his feet. He disappeared in a flash, then returned, dressed in the new suit that Cisco had made and put the finishing touches on over the past six months. He looked over himself before nodding up at Brady.

Brady smiled back.

* * *

**A/N: **Hm, the chapters spanning over the first episode of the show took a lot longer than I anticipated it would. But, I hope you all enjoy the ending of it within the next chapter. And what do you think about Brady's new weapon?

Fun Fact, all of Brady's gadgets/weapons are inspired by other superheroes; his yo-yo is off of Spider-Man's webs, the megaton hammer (no name yet) is off Thor's hammer, his frisbee is off Captain America's shield, and his slingshot is off Black Widow's means to be able to use anything around her to her advantage. Kinda surprised other people hadn't figured that out yet, lol.

Anyway, the end of the first episode is in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this one as well as the new POVs with DeVoe and Cecile. Thanks for the consistent support you guys, no matter if I have to push things back, mostly because of work, but thank you all for continuing to be so patient with me.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	7. Out of The Speed Force

**06**

_Out of The Speed Force_

* * *

**SPEED FORCE**

* * *

Barry watched his life play out before him repeatedly. He felt rooted in place, tears tracking down his cheeks as he watched his parents over and over. Watched himself grow older and live out his life to fullest and happiest he'd been. All the while wondering if it was what he really wanted. Flashpoint had proved it wasn't, he'd lost his powers and had to go back…

"Was it that you didn't like the idea of life without your powers? Or was it that you knew it wasn't your life that was the problem?" Savitar asked.

Barry sighed.

He'd almost forgotten Savitar was there. Almost. The speedster had been quiet for a long time. Silently and sullenly watching the life play out for the umpteenth time. Savitar hadn't said anything since Barry'd started to feel the pain that Savitar tried his hardest to conceal.

"I don't know anymore," he murmured. He shrugged, tired of having the same conversation over and over. Tired of having to defend himself and his choices. Tired of having to explain why he decided to go back in time, why he worked to save his parents, why he tried so hard to ease the pain in his life. If anyone would understand, it'd be Savitar.

That was the hardest part he had to come to terms with. That the only person who'd truly understand was the one who hated him enough to completely ruin his whole life. And if they were going to be spending eternity in the Speed Force… "It's probably that it wasn't…"

"Wasn't your life?"

Barry nodded.

"Welcome to the club." Savitar sniffed loudly. "You get a lot of time to think about that, here." He lifted his chin. "Oh, look, here you come getting beat up again." He shook his head. "Or, here _I _go, coming back from being beat up again." His grasp tightened on his folded arms. "It's hard to remember who this is torturing more. At least in actual prison, you had the chance of getting out early for good behavior. You know…if they ever gave our dad that chance."

Barry closed his eyes, pain coursing through his chest.

_Barry forced himself to cross the threshold and walk towards the living room. Zoom was standing behind Henry, arm wrapped around his neck and cowl pulled down. Barry glared into Zoom's—Hunter's—face, waiting for him to say something. A cold, black darkness crept through Barry's body, weighing him down. His subconscious knew what was going to happen long before the rest of him did._

_"It's poetic, returning to your childhood home," Zoom rasped to Barry. The merry light in his eyes made Barry curl his fingers into fists. He was so preoccupied with Zoom, he didn't notice Cadence and Roy appear behind him, Roy with his bow drawn and pointing an arrow directly at Zoom._

_No. __Barry lifted a hand and stretched it towards Zoom. He stepped forward, foot pressing into a squeaky floorboard. It was the only other sound in the otherwise silent room. Even Henry stood still, watching his son. Barry's eyes shot to his father's. Don't worry, I'll save you. "Don't do this," Barry whispered. "I'm begging you. I'm begging you." He thumped a hand against his chest. "Take me. Take me instead." He licked his lips, swallowed hard. Throat as dry as a furnace. "Kill me. Kill me!"_

_"No!" Henry shouted._

_"Barry," Cadence said from behind him. She exchanged a glance with Roy, he continued to hold the bow directly at Zoom, fingers slowly starting to tremble from the immense strain of pulling the bowstring tight._

_"Look at me," Henry said to Barry. Barry shifted his gaze to his father. Shook his head. There had to be something else. Anything else. But Zoom was as fast as him, faster…Words were the only weapon now. "Look at me, son." Henry sucked in a deep breath through his nose, spoke through gritted teeth. "Don't take your eyes off me."_

_"Barry," Cadence repeated. This time with more force. The tension in the room immediately rose._

_"You still won't believe me that you and I are the same," Zoom growled. "That there isn't anything that separates us from each other. That you think you're better than me."_

_"Come on." Had he said it out loud? Had he whispered it? Yelled it? Each word sounded like a bomb dropping. Shattering everything in sight. But the walls stood tall around them, waiting for the final nail removal that'd take them down. "Come on, Zoom."_

_Zoom continued as if he hadn't heard Barry say anything at all. "So I'm going to have to make you believe me."_

_"No," Barry whimpered. His lower jaw started to tremble. Eyes stung. There had to be something. Anything that could be done. Anything other than what was about to happen. His heart rammed against his throat. He knew what was about to happen. His blood went cold. Every part of him turned to ice._

_"Whatever happens," Henry said firmly. "You've made me the happiest father."_

_"Dad," Barry gasped. His jaw shook fiercely. Body equally turned hot. He felt itchy, wanting to tear off his skin, wanted to tear off Zoom's head just as badly._

_"This time." Zoom showed all of his teeth as he grinned. A Cheshire grin that couldn't be contained. "You're going to watch your parent die, just like I did."_

_"No. NO!" Barry shouted._

_"This is what's going to make you just. Like. Me."_

_Father and son's eyes met._

_"Your mother and I love—"_

_One last time._

_"Zoom!"_

_And just like that, Zoom rammed his hand through Henry's heart. Blood splattered along the walls, across Barry's Cadence's, and Roy's faces, dripped to the floor, stuck to Zoom's finger tips along with tiny shreds of Henry's heart._

_"**NO!**" The pain of Barry's scream ripped through his throat. Tore through his body, causing more damage than a bullet could. He blacked out. He didn't see Cadence and Roy attack at the same time, a fireball straight to Zoom's face and an arrow to the shoulder. He didn't see Zoom's roar of pain as he backed away to stumble into the wall where he frantically tried to rub at his face and pull the arrow form his shoulder._

_Barry fell to his knees, cradling his father in his arms. "Dad? Dad?" He frantically ran his hands from his father's head to his shoulders, trying to find the best way to hold Henry to him. "Hey, hey, hey. Look at me." Henry's eyes rolled towards Barry as he gasped for air. Frantically swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing repeatedly. Tried to speak. Blood bubbled at his lips, rolled down his chin, a stark contrast against his pale skin. "Dad, don't leave. Don't leave me. Not again, not again."_

_Henry's movements came weaker, his hand reaching up to brush Barry's cheek. Missed. Barely got his arm. Barry grasped Cadence's arm and pulled her down to her knees next to him. He was surprised to find tears already falling down her cheeks. "Cade. Cay, please," he said. "Please." He couldn't get the words out._

_Heal him. Help him. Anything that could get him back on his feet. Anything that'd take him from being so lifeless, so pale so…_

_Cadence shook her head._

_"Please!"_

_"Barry, I can't," she finally said. "His heart…"_

_Barry looked down and saw the truth. "DAD!" Barry shouted at him. "Come on, come on. It's alright. Dad?" Henry stopped responding, stopped moving. And Barry continued to scream the word 'dad' repeatedly before he broke, sobbing over his father's lifeless body. He was gone._

_"I told you family was a weakness," Zoom murmured, standing above them. Immediately, Barry turned a murderous glare towards him. Zoom let out a surprised laugh. "You feel the anger don't you, Flash? And now, you're just like me."_

_"NO!" Barry screamed._

Barry opened his eyes at Savitar's grunt to see his upper lip curl into an expression of disgust. Right. They could feel the same thing. Were, essentially, the same person but with different lives that were lead.

They were connected.

"It still hurts," Barry murmured.

"It'll never stop hurting," Savitar replied. He gritted his teeth. "Time doesn't heal all wounds…because we have time at our fingertips. The nagging pain never goes away. You only learn to live with it. And It's what you do with that life that keeps you moving forward."

Barry nodded. "I know," he agreed. "And that's how we differ." He shook his head, looking straight into Savitar's eyes. "I've learned not to live in the past. That the only thing you can do is move forward and keep running."

Savitar snorted. "Do you want that stitched on a sampler?" He waved his hand. "We've got nothing but time here, and I'm sure your—our-parents have some sort of a _Dummies_ book on that sort of thing. I bet I can whip up something in the time we have."

Barry shook his head.

Opened his mouth to say something.

Then stopped.

Barry's eyebrows furrowed. Lips pressed together in a thin line.

Savitar looked at him, his eyes roving over Barry's face, eyebrows moving into a mirroring furrowed expression. "What's wrong with you? You look like you've finally seen a ghost or something."

It hit him all at once. First a tingling sensation, the same sort he'd feel when he was about to use his powers. First starting in his feet and moving up to his arms, resting in his fingertips. Barry lifted his hand, watching as lightning crackled between his fingertips.

He felt himself getting pulled backwards, as if someone had grabbed his shoulders and yanked hard. The Speed Force whirled by him in a swirl of colors and images, whizzing by much faster than the five seconds he'd watched his life play through. Something spherical whizzed by his head as he was pulled back, hovering in the place where he'd just been standing.

A harder pull. Barry's hands scrambled through the air, grasping Savitar's shoulder. Savitar looked at Barry, looked at the hand on his shoulder, then back at Barry with a look of utter disgust. He shook his head, once before, the two were ripped backwards with the strongest of tugs. Next thing Barry knew, he was racing at the speed of light, fast, fast, faster than he'd ever gone before. His legs churned, clothes burning away against the incredible friction that raced against him before bright light encompassed him.

Lightning trailed off him.

No.

Became part of him.

He was a lightning bolt that shot through the opening of the Speed Force before him and kept going. Going, going, going until he had no choice but to stop, seeing an obstacle he couldn't keep himself from running right into. Slamming his heels into the ground, Barry leaned forward and rested his palms on the hood of a truck, using everything in his power to keep from his forward momentum to slam his face into the hood of the truck.

His eyes shifted over the shocked faces of those that sat inside before his vision slanted. A low groan escaped his lips as he stumbled back, brought a hand up to his forehead, and dropped backwards, pitching to the ground.

Everything went black.

He had no idea how long he'd been out.

Didn't understand what'd happened, where he was. Didn't know how he managed to get dressed into CCPD shirt and sweats. All that mattered was…getting the words out that filled his head. That swirled around in a storm, pushing and pulling him in all directions. He picked up a marker and started to write, his writings coming out in small, intricate shapes. He wrote and wrote and wrote.

Ignored the real voice behind him.

"Unbelievable!" Savitar seethed, pacing back and forth behind Barry. His chest heaved, hands clenching into fists. "I didn't think things could get worse, but…I should've known you'd manage to make things worse." He moved to Barry's side and stood above him, glaring at him. "You brought me back out here to this hell hole! At least in the Speed Force I was able to…I could've at least been able to _pretend _that…" his voice broke with emotion. "I don't know what's worse, watching the life I could've lived, or being back here and watching _your _life."

Barry glanced at him but didn't response. Moved about the room as if he didn't see Savitar. And, as far as Barry was concerned, Savitar wasn't there. He continued to write, shifted around the room, got out everything that he needed to say.

"Barry?"

Immediately, Barry turned at the sound of his name. He leveled his eyes on Joe, a smile making its way to his face. Then to Iris, and Cisco, and Caitlin. His heart swelled with excitement. He really was home…his friends…his _family _were there in front of him. How long had he been gone?

"Great," Savitar mumbled. "The rest of these idiots are here." He leaned against the wall behind him, crossing his arms and legs. He waved a hand toward Barry. "Go on, go have your happy reunion." He watched as Barry's lips twitched, he ran a hand over his mouth, then back through his hair. Shook his head. "Nora shouldn't be here," he murmured, voice gravelly and low, as if he'd just woken up from a deep sleep.

Savitar's eyebrows rose.

Barry frowned.

He hadn't said that. _"Nora shouldn't be here?" _That didn't make sense. He'd tried to greet his friends. Tried to say 'hi', tried to explain what'd happened to him. He saw the confused expression flash over everyone's faces before Iris stepped forward to say, "Your mom isn't here, Barry," Iris said. Her voice was soft, eyes wide with disbelief and…shame. "It's us…your friends." Barry looked at her. "You're home."

Barry shook his head. He knew he was home. He'd recognize his home anywhere. He needed to say what was going on. What happened. Needed to warn them about Savitar. Barry opened his mouth to speak again, frowned when different words dropped from his lips. "Your honor, I'm innocent. I didn't do this, I didn't kill anyone."

Savitar tilted his head, still watching Barry. His lips curled up in the corner. A slight smirk of understanding. Frustrated, Barry tired once more. "Can you hear the stars? Singing? Rhyming? Chiming? Timing?" No. _No. _Barry squeezed his hands to his hair, grasping at the fringe that fell over his face, threatened to pull out each and every strand in the pain of what was swirling through his head. The confusion. "Every hour, every minute." He then whirled to Joe, pointing directly at him. Desperately tried to get him to understand. "You said the city was safe! That there was no residual danger. But that's not true!"

"Barry—" Joe said.

"What really happened that night?" Barry continued.

"The city is safe," Cadence insisted. He looked at her, felt his heart swell. Listened carefully to her words, focused on his own so they'd come out correctly when he spoke again. "You saved us, you saved us all." He frowned, his heart sinking as fast as it swelled, watching as she shook her head, taking a step back when he spoke, starting to pace out of frustration. He looked to Bray, who was turned away, looking at Barry out the corner of his eye, almost as if he didn't want to be there.

Frustrated, Barry paced in a large circle, went back to the walls and started to write again.

"I mean, I know you made some dumb decisions before, but this just takes the cake," Savitar said. Barry turned a hard stare toward him. "They can't understand you. You're still running in Speed Force time. Still experiencing everything from your life in ways you can't imagine." He tapped at his temple. "It's going to take time before that thing's all unscrambled."

"Why is this happening?" Barry murmured. His eyes grew wide, hearing himself say the right words. "How come I can say things right to you but…" he trailed off, quickly understanding it. Savitar nodded in agreement. "Because you're a speedster."

"Because I've spent time in the Speed Force," Savitar corrected. He pointed directly toward Barry's heart. "'Because of you. Because of that prison you stuck me in."

"You're not in that prison anymore," Barry reminded him. "You're out here, with me."

"I've noticed," Savitar replied. Then his lips pulled back into a shark-like smile. "I should've still been in the Speed Force, I should've been dead. Something about your presence, despite the Black Flash's hand going through my chest…" he brought up his hand to press flat against the front of his jumpsuit. "We're still connected."

Barry glanced towards his friends, knowing they were talking about him, probably going to take him to STAR Labs to get things figured out. The first reaction to everything they didn't know the answer to. That was okay, STAR Labs was his home, a comforting place. If there was anyone who could figure things out, it was them. They were some of the smartest people in the city and had enough information on the Speed Force to work things out through their database.

Barry looked back to Savitar, his hands clenching into fists. Sensing the danger within Savitar's words. Savitar took a step toward Barry. "And I'm going to make sure that connection is severed. Permanently."

Everything happened at once.

A hand landed on his shoulder. All at once, Barry felt the familiar sparks shoot through him that was his and Cadence's powers working together. Felt it through his body like a recharge through a battery. He looked to Savitar and saw his eyes crackle with lightning at the same time, having taken on her power as well.

They moved at the same time. Savitar shot towards Barry, grabbing him around the neck and squeezing hard. Barry pried Savitar's hands off his neck and grasped his arm, throwing him to the side. Savitar crashed into the wall then was back to his feet, racing toward Barry. Barry threw a punch that Savitar caught in his palm, twisted his arm aside, and punched Barry straight in the stomach with enough power that sent Barry up into the ceiling. Barry fell to the ground and turned, racing after Savitar as he shot from the CCPD.

They raced back and forth through the city, Savitar arching just out of Barry's grasp as they ran. Every now and then he'd shoot around a corner and circle back toward Barry, the two immediately becoming entangled in a fight, working to gain the upper hand. Barry raced to a rooftop after throwing Savitar through an office window.

Savitar raced up and stood across from him, chest heaving as he glared at Barry with so much malice Barry was surprised he hadn't burst into flames. "I can't wait to kill you," Savitar hissed.

"But you can't, can you?" Barry shot back. Savitar's glare increased. "You're not as strong as you used to be. You don't have the power of the Speed Force behind you." Another thought came to mind. Something that Savitar had consistently reminded him. "We're connected. If you get rid of me…" he trailed off, letting the words hang between them.

"Shut up," Savitar snarled.

"Then what'll you do?"

"I'll take my chances."

Barry and Savitar raced toward each other once more. Fists flew, punches connected, the speedsters slammed each other to the rocky gravel on the roof top before racing back down to the streets of Central City. Barry pumped his arms, running as hard as he could, forcing himself to go faster, faster, faster…

_Wham!_

Something connected with the side of his head, sending him crashing to the ground. Blood splattered to the asphalt below him, dripping from his nose and rolling down his chin. He shook his head and pushed himself from his knees, looking up.

His eyes widened in surprise, seeing Brady—Shadowhunter—standing in front of him, holding onto a large hammer. The young boy twisted his hands along the handle of the hammer, watching him closely.

"Barry?" He asked.

"Brady?" Barry repeated. He pressed his hand to his face, pulled it away to look at the blood that stained his fingertips. His eyes shot towards Brady once more. _Did he just hit me in the face with a hammer? _His head exploded with pain, the realization hitting him. "Oh, my head. What happened?"

Brady shook his head. "We don't have time for that now. Mom needs your help."

Barry immediately clocked onto the seriousness of Brady's tone and pushed himself to his feet. His eyes shifted to Savitar before he recoiled, seeing the mess of Savitar's face. The scarred part seemed to have caved in, blood pooling into the cracks of his scars. Bruising swelled around his sightless eye. Despite the pain he should've felt, his enhanced healing would've at least made the pain reside faster, Savitar continued to look at Barry, gently shaking his head.

"Go ahead," Savitar said, sarcasm tinging his words. He gestured towards Central City. "Save the day like you always do." Barry hesitated, continuing to look at his doppelganger. Could he really leave him to wreak havoc on the city? Savitar chuckled, seeming to read Barry's mind. He probably could. "You don't have to worry about me. Because the thing is Barry…" Savitar said. Before Barry's eyes, he slowly fractured apart in blue light, fading away. "As far as you're concerned…I was never really here."

Savitar faded from sight.

Without a second thought, Barry turned on his heel and raced to STAR Labs. He ripped his suit off the mannequin, looked at the computer screens to where Cadence's location as locked, and ran as fast as he could. He weaved in and out of the obstacles placed in front of him in the city until he spotted her fire trial chasing after something in the sky.

_"Do you see how fast he's running?"_ Caitlin asked, voice amplified from their communication link.

_"I've never gone that fast,"_ Wally murmured.

_"Seems to me that time in the Speed Force has amplified his powers," _Harrison said. Barry could practically see him in his mind's eye, crossing his arms, bringing one hand up to his chin. _"That being in the Speed Force so long…he may have taken everything in like a sponge."_

_"Wouldn't that have also advanced any of the skills that Cadence would have, if their powers work together?" _Tess questioned._ "Especially after what we've discovered the Fire Fall."_

_"We've already seen how the Fire Fall has affected her, it's to be seen if this truly has done anything for Barry," _Joe said. "_But right now, we've got to stop this Samuroid." _

Barry sped up, continuing to watch Cadence as she fought off whatever it was she was chasing. Every now and then she'd leap up and engage…whatever it was, in a fight, and be knocked back, then keep going, showing impressive feats of her fire throwing skills Barry hadn't seen before. They continued running, through Danville, to the farming areas until, eventually, they made it to the windmill farm. Barry remembered reading about it in the paper, around the same time that the Particle Accelerator was about to go online. The clean energy was to help reduce the carbon footprint of nearby cities and the use the power from said farm to power Keystone.

Barry craned his neck as he followed the Samuroid into the fields, watching as he waved back and forth through the metallic windmills. Cadence teleported above the Samuroid, dropping down to attack him once more. He whirled around, using the thrusters on his back to angle him around, pulling out a sword. He stabbed her in the stomach before Samuroid threw Cadence hard toward the ground. She bounced off the first windmill and struck another before regaining her balance and teleporting to the ground. Barry raced after them. He skidded to a stop when a windmill was struck.

"Of course," he mumbled.

Looking up, Barry watched as the Samuroid continued to swing his sword back and forth, sending waves of energy out into the poles of the windmills he flew by. A loud, groaning filled the air seconds before the windmills started to tilt. Barry blinked hard, standing still. On a good day, the passing clouds behind anything tall would give the appearance something was about to fall over. This time around, the windmills were, in fact, careening toward him.

Barry gritted his teeth and took off once more, weaving between the falling windmills towards Cadence as she continued to fall. Barry raced up a windmill and, at the same time that he leapt towards the Samuroid, he threw a bolt of lightning forward.

The Samuroid watched as the lightning bolt harmlessly shot by him. Then he turned back to Barry and said, "You missed," in a robotic-deadpan voice.

Barry smirked. He landed atop the Samuroid and, with a wrench of its flying mechanism, ripped it of fhis back. Then he leapt off and sped towards the ground, just as the lightning bolt shot back towards the Samuroid—the lightning that struck the blades of a nearby windmill and directed back towards the Samuroid—following the metallic conduction of the blades. The Samuroid almost immediately blew up, black smoke billowing out of its back as it spiraled toward the ground.

Barry pushed himself to run even faster and gathered Cadence in his arms before she hit the ground. He ran a safe distance away before setting her on the ground. The Samuroid hit the ground and exploded, sending metallic bits and pieces into the air.

Silence stretched between them, Barry stepped back and looked at Cadence, chest heaving from the effort he put into his running, watched as she looked torn between wanting to give him a hug and throttling him. Of which he wasn't what she would do.

Finally, she pulled her goggles down from her face and said, "I had that."

A laugh escaped Barry's lips. He reached up and pulled down his hood. "No, you didn't," he corrected her.

Cadence smiled back. She chuckled. Shook her head. Lowered her gaze. Still shook her head. Barry watched, waiting for her response. Willed himself not to reach out and grab her, unsure of how she'd react and what it'd do. Would it be real that time? Or would it be another face off against Savitar?

_"As far as you're concerned…I was never here."_

Cadence lifted her chin and looked Barry in the eye. She sucked in a deep breath, tears falling down her cheeks, dripping to the front of her suit. They beaded up and rolled off, not even leaving a stain. A new upgrade to her suit, Barry supposed. Cadence sucked in a deep breath, her lips trembling into a smile.

She lifted an eyebrow, stepped toward him, and called, "You're late."

Barry smiled, he shook his head and walked towards her, her smile growing wider with each step. He grasped her face, using his thumbs to brush away her tears despite how much more of them came. Happy tears, he noted, looking into her eyes. "I'm just in time."

Cadence threw her arms around Barry's neck at the same time Barry gathered her in his arms, the two coming together in a passionate kiss.

* * *

_SCARLETT SPEEDSTER RETURNS AFTER SIX MONTH ABSENCE_

Tommy Monaghan grinned to himself as he read headline. Not quite newspaper standard; Central City Picture News would have an even better title, more news, comments from the CCPD, and the city residents, and blah blah blah. Nothing he really needed to know.

What he _did _need to know, was when he was going to make his next hit. And which one was he going to go for? Tommy switched to a new tab on his computer screen and brought up a list, a long list of names and numbers. Many were crossed off, but others were added to it on almost a daily basis. He grinned to himself, typing slowly as he added: THE FLASH to the top of the list.

Then he sat back, watching as the column next to it started to whir with numbers, calculating his worth. Finally, it finished.

Tommy grinned.

REVERSE-FLASH…XXX

THE FLASH…500,000,000

FLARE….450,000,000

?

?

?

KILLER FROST…..10,000,000

VIBE…..5,000,000

SHADOWHUNTER….50,000

JESSE QUICK…25,000

KID FLASH…..25,000

GEO….10,000

"Buckle up, boys," he called to the grinning faces around him, hidden by the shadows of the darkened room. "Looks like we've got a new bounty to go after!"

* * *

**A/N: **I know part of this may be confusing, so if there's anything that needs to be explained, please let me know and I'll do my best with it. I'll mark spoilers accordingly if needed. Otherwise, I'm glad you all finally get a glimpse of what plans I have with Barry's time in the Speed Force as the story goes on. Annnd, we've started the other subplot of the story as well.

I'm really excited for this story to move forward and I hope you all are as well!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**DarkHelm145:** There's going to be a lot of moments where we see DeVoe's POV. It's something the show definitely could have given us more of, but didn't, and I want to capitalize on that. Plus, it ties in Harrison and Tess in more than I'd had them in the last story.

**Ethan:** You're actually on the very right track of what's going on with Iris. It's something that'll be brought up with Joe as well. With a character dynamic I don't think many people will see coming much, but I'm excited to write. Yes, Brady low-key did enjoy smacking Barry in the face with a hammer, lol.

**Yummers:** Glad you enjoyed it. I can't wait to for you to see what else happens.


	8. Welcome Home, Barry Allen

**06**

_Welcome Home, Barry Allen_

* * *

Barry whisper-sang to the music that poured from the tiny speakers on his cell phone that rested precariously close to the burner that roasted sausages in a sizzling skillet. He flipped them over his arm and up into the air, whirling around with his speed to catch it on a plate before doing the same with a stack of pancakes.

He stood back, looking over the spread of every breakfast item imaginable, silently counting to himself, working to figure out if he'd forgotten something. He pressed a hand to his chin, eyes scanning the eggs, biscuits, sausages, bacon, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, toast, orange juice, hash browns, fruit salad, pastries, and cereal. No…that seemed to be about it. He started to turn away, then realized he was missing the one vital thing that nearly every adult managed to thrive off to keep themselves alive after the daily grind of work and taking care of a family.

Coffee.

Right, he forgot the coffee. He looked at the coffee pot, frowned, and speed-searched the cupboards for anything that would work. It took him only a second to remember, he'd been gone for six months…and Cade didn't drink coffee. Never had and probably never would, from the way she reacted adversely to it. He wasn't sure what really made her make a face and stick out her tongue every time even the hint of coffee was in the air, but he was sure all the extra caffeine was something she didn't need, considering how already outgoing and borderline hyper she could be on a good day.

Barry thought for a moment, sped upstairs to whisk his wallet from his bedside table, ran back to the table by the couch, remember it wasn't upstairs, and ran all the way to Jitters. He threw the money on the counter, grabbed a Flash that was being handed to the customer in line, and ran all the way back to the loft. He spread all the food out onto the coffee table, moving slowly this time. Allowing himself to take on the music and the feeling that he couldn't ignore.

He was back.

With his friends.

With his family.

Away from the Speed Force and Savitar and…and the prison he was held in. He was able to live again. Able to experience life the way it was supposed to be experienced in slow time; seconds, minutes, hours. Not sped up to micro-seconds where he saw everything that was to happen in seconds that he couldn't see where his life started and ended.

A chuckle came to Barry's lips. He couldn't ignore the irony. A long time ago he would've complained about how slowly things moved in life—don't get him started on having to still wait for some of his tests to run at the CCPD—and now he couldn't get enough of it.

_Just take those old records off the shelf. I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself. Today's music ain't got the same soul. I like that old-time rock 'n' roll._

"What are you doing?"

Barry turned to see Cadence, Brady, and Conner all staring at him as if he were crazy. Eyebrows raised and with identical—yet warring—expressions of disbelief on their faces. Even Brady's face was completely screwed up, looking at him with disdain.

"Oh!" Barry grasped his phone and turned down the music. "Hi, sorry, did I wake you up?" He looked at the clock on the wall and shook his head. "Of course not, day's just getting started." He chuckled, a little self-consciously. "Well, I couldn't sleep," he explained. "I don't know if it's the whole, speedster thing, with so many thoughts running through my head." He wiggled his fingers beside his head. "And, uh," He rubbed at the back of his neck. "I mean the couch…the couch's not so great for sleeping on. We should probably get a new couch."

He noticed Cadence lift an eyebrow and immediately cut himself off. It wasn't her fault he was sleeping on the couch, he was the one who suggested it. Because it was going to take time for things to get back to normal. It was going to take a long time.

After having stopped Samuroid from attacking the city, Cisco had immediately rushed Barry back to STAR Labs to run as many tests on him as possible. A unanimous response from the entire team, and before Barry knew it, he was lost to the darkness once more. This time, however, it was complete darkness. There was nothing in front of him to haunt him, to torture him. There weren't any images flashing in front of him, reminders of the things he'd done, hadn't done.

Nothing but darkness.

Until a tiny flashing light that slowly brought him back to the surface. Until he noticed the music that rang through his ears seconds before he heard the playful bickering of his friends around him. His lips twitched at the corners, moving into a smile as he heard the familiar strains of the bickering, of the solid beeping in the background of STAR Labs' equipment, of the hushed voices of those trying not to wake someone up but continuing to hover near just in case there was anything they could do.

"Are you sure it's appropriate?" He heard Caitlin asked, heard the worry in her voice. Something stirred in Barry's chest, hearing Caitlin's voice. He'd heard her over heir communication link and was relieved then, relieved to know she'd come back, and their team was back together.

"It's a good luck charm," Cisco's voice then said indignantly. "It worked before." That was it. That's why the song sounded familiar. Barry hadn't listened to Lady Gaga in a long time. Though, it did remind him he needed to update his Facebook page sometime soon. Since the Particle Accelerator Explosion, he hadn't thought much about it. Though it seemed that all his friends were still moving on with their social media accounts considering how much Cisco spent time on his phone.

"Last time he was in a coma."

"Well, waking up to gaga shouldn't seem too freaky."

"You guys didn't do this to me," Cadence pointed out, sounding a little envious.

"You were never asleep when you first met us," Cisco pointed out. Barry started to see a little better, watched Cisco wiggle a dangling Twizzler towards the fire meta-human. "And it's not like I'd do that when you're fresh out of the Heat Locker. That's too much like those saunas at your aerobics classes and, believe me, I'm not doing any of those again."

"Good point," Cadence conceded. Then she paused and asked with a laugh, "You're _still _upset about what it did to your hair?"

"That place really needs to work on their steam ratio for those of us who get treatments done and don't take to humidity."

"Guys, stop," Wally said. "He's waking up."

Indeed, Barry had woken up. And he'd never felt better. None of his muscles ached. No residual grogginess. Nothing that would've put Barry down for struggling through some of the toughest battles. It was like he was…reborn. Walking on air. Like he'd never experienced any wrongdoings in his life.

Barry slowly woke up, with all his friends and family around him, waiting for some sort of response. "Hey, it's me, Cisco," Cisco said slowly. "Your BFF. AKA Vibe."

"He knows who you are, Cisco," Iris said with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah," Barry slowly sat up. "I know who you are."

Cisco let out an audible sigh of relief. He grinned around a twizzler poking out the side of his mouth, running a hand through his hair. "Good, because I didn't know if you were going to, you know, have lost your memory or attack us again or something."

"I attacked you?" Barry's eyes flew open in surprise.

"One thing at a time," Caitlin interrupted, holding up her hand. "We have more important things to worry about right now." She turned to Barry, lowering her voice. "How're you feeling, Barry?"

Joe leaned closer, placing his hand on Barry's cheek, gently rubbing his thumb over his skin. "You really scared us there for a moment, son," he murmured, voice rumbling deep in his chest, barely concealing his emotion over, finally, having his son back. "We didn't think you were going to come back."

Barry thought for a moment, worked to figure out what it was he was feeling. "I feel incredible," Barry replied. Incredibly was certainly the word. He felt incredible. "I feel…reborn."

Brady snorted. Cadence placed a hand over his mouth, giving him a disapproving glance.

"It's got to be more than incredible," Wally broke in. "You must feel amazing. Because, I, wow, I _seriously _hate to admit it, but you were faster than me. You were _much _faster than me. It's like…you were in the Speed Force for six months and you soaked it all in like a sponge."

"Maybe," Barry dismissed it. He quickly changed the subject, doing everything he could not to think about what he'd seen in the Speed Force. Tried not to think about Savitar's floating away and his parting words. "How, uh…how was everything while I was gone?" While he was gone. _It's like you were on a vacation, not sacrificing yourself for the city._

"It was fine," Wally said. He casually folded his arms while Barry detected a sense of bravado to him. "But Team Kid Flash held down the fort while you were gone." He glanced at Iris with a raised eyebrow. Iris rolled her eyes, folded her arms, shook her head, and mouthed, "No," at Barry's questioning glance.

Thankfully, Brady corrected Wally first, moving out from behind his mother's hand. "We're not called Team Kid Flash!" His voice took on a tinge of exasperation before subsiding to a calmer one. "If _anything,_ we should be Team Flare." He paused, eyes lighting up. "Or the Flare Force!"

Cadence grimaced, immediately cringing at the name that only an eleven-year-old-boy (and possible Cisco) would come up with. "Team Flash has a better ring to it."

Barry felt nothing but pride, still hearing that their name was Team Flash. Not because he knew the team was named after him, but because they still acted as the same team. They bickered and shot each other down like a family but were still there for each other when they needed it. None of them had changed.

He especially realized it when having returned to the loft that night and saw Conner sitting on the windowsill, waiting patiently—or rather, impatiently—for them to walk back through the door. He sat up straight, turning his legs to the floor when he saw Barry, Cadence, and Brady come through the door.

"You didn't come back to school," Conner said. "And then we got released early, because of what was going on in the city. Is everything okay?" His eyes widened when he saw Barry come through the door behind them. "There were rumors the Flash was back but…no one believed it."

"Believe it," Cadence said with a small smile. "He's back for good." She folded her arms and lowered her voice. "Why don't you guys do your homework while I get dinner started."

Brady all but whined. "I get taken out of school, stop a speedster from going on a rampage around the city, and still have to do my homework?" He reached out and shoved Conner on the shoulder as he passed. "Some friend you are, you could've just said I was sick or something."

"That excuse stopped working ages ago," Conner replied, voice fading away as he and Brady went to Brady's room. "Since you kept disappearing from class…"

"It's not my fault a lot of stuff happens in this city…"

Barry chuckled to himself. Sometimes, he forgot how young Brady truly was. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to handle school as well being a super hero on the side. It was easier for him, he could go to and from work as his job was isolated, but having to do that, and go to school, and act like a normal kid was probably too much to bear. Had Brady, when he was eight-year-old, mentioned to Barry about wanting powers, Barry would've talked him out of it.

"So…" Barry watched as Cadence shrugged off her jacket and moved into the kitchen, rubbing the back of her neck. "Conner's here," he said. Cadence nodded. "I bet Brady's happy to have him around." He still remembered how hard Brady had cried when Conner was forced to move away. "But is that really safe? I mean, Oliver—"

"—Oliver doesn't really have much say in what goes on with Conner lately," Cadence interrupted. "He hasn't for a little while now." She leaned against the counter, pressing her palms against it, spreading her fingers wide, then curled them into her palm. She squeezed her eyes shut before saying. "Sam's dead, because of Oliver. And Oliver thought it was better to have him here."

Barry's eyes widened. "Conner's mom's dead?"

Cadence nodded. "It's a long story. Conner wasn't safe in Starling City with him and Felicity…" a bitter tone came to her voice. "Not that he tried really hard. Conner was around Raisa more than Oliver but…" she waved a hand. "Oliver asked if I'd take him in and I did, no question. This is probably the most he's talked since he's been here."

"Is he okay?"

"For now. I think having Brady around has helped. But it's going to take some time before he's back to where he was." She turned her gaze to Barry, looking him in the eye for the first time since leaving the wind farm. "A lot of things have changed while you were gone, Barry."

"I-I know." It took Barry a second to recover from the revelation. He slowly moved around the counter toward her. "I, uh, I didn't expect everything to be the same. But…" he moved closer to her, noticing she watched his every move. He paused a few inches away from her. "I know I missed a lot. But I'm here now."

Cadence closed her eyes, shook her head. When she spoke, her voice quivered, as if she were on the verge of crying. "It's been hard," she admitted. "I've cried a lot. Almost every day. For the first couple of weeks I was a mess, if you could imagine." She chuckled a little. "Captain Singh was understanding at first, but even he got tired of it." Barry chuckled as well. That sounded like their boss, he didn't handle emotions very well when on the job. Cadence cleared her throat, brushing her hair behind her shoulders, voice growing stronger. "But I moved on, too. Tried to keep going." She looked him in the eye. "To keep running like you said."

"And you did," Barry insisted. He stepped forward, placing his hands on her cheeks. She paused for a second, moved to step away, but then leaned into his touch. "You kept everyone together. I'm so proud of you and for the decisions you've made. It sounds funny, especially after what you just old me about Conner, but maybe this was a blessing."

"You being gone for six months?"

He didn't miss the disbelief and confusion in her tone. "I can't tell you how I feel. It's like everything that was wrong in my life, the pain, my past, my mistakes, it's all gone. All I see is you, and us, and Brady, and our future together. It's the only thing I can think about. Moving forward, the future." He paused. "I know there's a lot of things I need to catch up on, there's a lot I've missed, but I'm here now. I can do that."

Cadence sighed through her nose. She reached up and looped her arms around Barry's neck, prompting him to wrap his around her waist. "There's a lot that's changed, Barry. A _lot. _It's not going to be easy for you to get back to…it's probably not even possible to go back the way we were. I'm not even the same person I was before you left—"

_"—_Do you still love me?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Of course," she replied.

"And you know I _had _to go into the Speed Force?"

"I told you to go."

Barry shook his head. "But that doesn't mean you understood."

"Of course, I understood," Cadence replied. "If you didn't go, the city would've been destroyed, people would've been killed." She removed her arms from around his neck and turned away, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "I just don't understand why it always has to be you." With that, she teleported from him.

Since then, Barry did everything he could to try and get things back to normal between everyone. It wasn't an easy thing to do, how do you get over missing six months, as if you were in a coma, but hadn't completely blacked out. Away but still in the same space that no one would've been able to understand. In a place where Barry couldn't talk about what he'd seen, if he tried again, what would keep him from spewing out all that babbling once more? Would anyone but Savitar be able to understand him?

And even then, there was having to get used to everyone once more. And the new dynamics, and for the first time since he was a child, since his parents died, Barry felt that he didn't quite belong, quite knew where he fit into everything. They weren't going to go back in a hurry, there were stepping stones that had to be made. So, he suggested to sleep on the couch until they found their footing once more.

And worked to get used to having Conner around when he was getting used to who was soon going to be his step-son by the end of the year. And how he'd need to figure out if the wedding was actually going to happen. And reconcile…reconnect with Iris and Joe and Wally. And figure out what was going on with Caitlin.

And…

And…

And…

Cadence ran a hand over her face, scanning over the spread Barry had made for himself. "I need to go to the store again," she muttered under her breath.

Barry's eyebrows twitched upwards. He twisted to gance behind him. "Oh," he uttered. Then he turned back to her. "I can go," he quickly offered. "It won't take me too long and I _did _make a lot." He scanned the food around him then gestured with his arm. "It's not just for me, though, it's for you, guys, too. I figured I'd make everyone breakfast."

Brady looked at him for a long moment. "You're afraid of going back to work, aren't you?" He asked bluntly. "I mean, with that haircut, I get it." He paused. "And you could really do something with your eyebrows." He made a show of motioning towards his forehead, making Conner laugh quietly while Cadence rolled her eyes.

"Just eat," She said.

"Thanks, Barry," Conner said quietly. He moved forward in an almost apologetic manner, his eyes downcast as he reached for the plate of pastries closest to him. He sat on the couch, side-eyeing Brady who practically cannonballed next to him, and gestured to the TV that had fast moving, flickering images on the screen. "What are you watching?"

"Oh! Cisco hooked me up!" Barry grinned. "I'm catching up on all the TV I missed when I was stuck in the Speed Force. When you're gone six months, the whole world's a spoiler. It's a one-thousand time sped up version of all my favorite shoes." He glanced at the screen and gasped aloud. "Oh! Jon Snow died! Oh, he's alive!"

Brady huffed, dropping a biscuit onto the plate with a light _clink_. "Thanks for ruining it! Mom just let me start watching." He leaned back against the couch, folding his arms tightly over his chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Barry quickly apologized. He started to apologize further then stopped, a slight odor hitting his nose. He sniffed a few times then said, "Hey, what's—" He broke off, noticing Cadence hold up her hand, shaking her head out the corner of his eye. He turned toward her. "What?" She motioned to him to the kitchen. He lowered his voice as he followed her. "Is it your perfume or something? Because if it is, it's not that bad. I mean, you have some better smelling ones. Like that cherry blossom one that's got some citrus in it." He started to babble. "I really like the smell of that one. Because it reminds me of our first date, not that that went well. I mean, it went _well_, as it can be for being targeted by the Reverse-Flash." Cadence gave him an odd look, making him stop. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Cadence slowly smiled. "And here I was thinking you'd need a jump start for you loopy brain."

"No, my brain's good." Barry tapped at his forehead with his knuckles, as if knocking on a door. "All of me is good."

"You still have a brain?" Brady intoned from the couch.

Barry started to turn toward him, but Cadence grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Don't take it personally, there've been days where he wants nothing more than for me to read his school books to him and then within the next hour being seen with me is like BEING the plague. I knew puberty was coming, but you'd think with his meta powers it'd manifest in some way for me to actually _see _it coming." She added under her breath, "Or those comic book wiggle-smells."

"Wiggle-smells?"

"You know, where a character smells and they have those green squiggly lines running off the." She jerked her thumb toward Brady. "'I've been dealing with that for a few weeks now."

"So why haven't you just told him he smells?"

"Because explaining the bids and the bees is one thing, saying, 'hey, you stink' is completely different." She shrugged. "Besides, it feels like some sort of a guy thing."

"Do you want me to talk to him? I could say something?" Cadence looked skeptical. "Hey, I had to deal with this…Joe had to do the same thing when I moved in with him and things are okay." He bobbed his knees. "I mean, I wasn't a meta and there wasn't a chance I'd blow a hole in the wall if I sneezed, but…"

There was a knock on the door before it swung open to reveal Ryder Moseley poking his head inside. "Dad!" Brady's entire face lit up. He leapt up from the couch, hurried to put on his backpack, kissed his mother on the cheek, and hurried to Ryder. "I'm ready to go!"

"I think this is the first time I've seen you excited to go to school," Cadence remarked.

"I'm excited to see Dad," Brady replied, still grinning up at his father, who ruffled his hair, pushing it into his face.

"I'll take whatever I can get that's not you moaning and whining and complaining about school and homework and tests and quizzes and projects." Cadence waved a hand, then waved to Ryder. "Thanks for taking him."

"You're welcome," Ryder replied. "I'll have him back after dinner." He rose his eyebrows, wrapping his arms around his son to keep him from lightly punching him in the stomach and chest. "That is, if it's still alright with y'all to take him to the site."

"The Flash can't fix everything, dad," Brady reminded him.

Barry frowned.

"Take him as long as you want," Cadence replied. "I can't remember the last time I had a night off." She tapped her cheek, turning her gaze to the ceiling as she thought about it. "One that wasn't entirely ruined by metas, anyway."

"_You're_ a meta, mom."

"I was including myself in that statement."

Ryder and Brady laughed, the sudden sound making Barry's head jerk black, blinking rapidly in surprise. He hadn't realized how similar their laughter was until that moment. Or, now that he thought about it, how much taller Brady had gotten int the tie he'd been gone. And lost some more of the childlike roundness of his face, it mellowing out into more angles, much like his mother and father.

"We're going to be late," Conner reminded them quietly. He stood a few feet aside of Brady and Ryder, watching them with a peculiar sense of detachment.

"Right. Let's get going." Ryder let go of Brady and took a step back, swinging car keys into his hand. He paused, tilted his head, narrowed his eyes, sniffed, then took a step back when Brady moved to go past him. "Whoa!" Ryder placed his hand on Brady's face, stopping him in his tracks.

"Dad, you're crushing my face," Brady mumbled, voice muffled.

"Buddy, you stink." Ryder pushed Brady back then reached into the bag hanging off his side and produced a stick of deodorant, throwing it toward Brady. Brady immediately caught it in his hands, turning it this way and that to study it. "Put this on. Every day."

"Oh!" Brady twisted it in his hands, popped off the cap, then spread it under his arms. "Thanks. Bye, mom." He hurried out the door with Conner behind him.

"Bye," Ryder waved. "It's good to see you, Barry." The door closed behind them.

Cadence looked at her phone as it started to buzz and raised her eyebrows. "Mm. I've got to go. Captain Singh is calling me in. Must be serious."

"Wait, what about…?" Barry gestured towards the spread he'd made that was rapidly growing cold. "I'll just…I'll bring some to you. For lunch, maybe?" Cadence nodded, threw an arm around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving the apartment.

Silence stretched around him. Barry sighed heavily, twisting his mouth to the side. "Welcome back, Barry," Barry murmured to no one, the apartment now empty.

* * *

The first thing Cadence noticed when stepping into the precinct was Captain Singh, Officer "Jonesy" Jones, Officer Pruitt, and Jordan standing in a circle, all speaking quietly. The second thing she noticed was a little girl sitting on a nearby bench, kicking her legs back and forth, stuffed in a large jacket, holding onto a dilapidated bear. The third thing she noticed was Captain Singh waving her over, lifting his chin the second he spotted her.

Being spotted by Captain Singh and waved over was never really a good thing. Captain Singh never got your attention unless something was bad news. But there was something in the message he left for her that let her know it was serious. Especially when her line of the CCPD was involved.

She heard snippets of the conversation as she approached the group. "Found her in the car, hiding under the seat," Jonesy explained, resting his hands on the belt wrapped around his waist, weighed down by the items every office was given when the joined the force. "Her parents were at the ATM when the meta attacked."

"Damn," Officer Pruitt murmured.

"We located her next of kin?" Captain Singh asked.

"Maybe an uncle?" Jonesy shrugged, letting out a long breath. "We're still tracking down his last known address."

"Well, we can't have her sleeping on a bench all day," Jordan said with a shake of her head. She looked toward the girl and frowned. "We've got to get her out of here."

"I'm guessing that's my queue," Cadence said, turning all attention her way. Captain Singh looked at her, nodded, then nodded toward the bench. Cadence nodded back, took a deep breath, the headed towards the girl sitting quietly on the bench, her hair spilling over her shoulders. As Cadence moved toward her, she studied the girl closely.

Whatever trauma it was she'd witnessed, it was more than traumatizing. Her eyes were red, watery, tears leaking down her cheeks. The tip of her nose just as bright, from crying so hard, from all the emotion she'd worked to throw out. The effort framing into her face. Framing into the fists that clutched the dilapidated stuffed animal that tightened every time someone came close to her. The girl studied Cadence as she sat down next to her.

Cadence crossed her legs at the knee and continued to look over the girl. Waited. Waited for the shift in her demeanor that let her know it was okay for her to say something. The way she did for every child she worked to help; the ones beaten and abused and neglected in ways that one could only hope was a movie and not real life. The girl certainly wasn't as bad as the others she'd helped escape their homes or take to trial in the last six months.

And they definitely weren't Frankie.

A smile came to Cadence's face as she thought about Frankie Kane, a smile that almost immediately dropped when she saw the suspicion that crossed the girl's face. Cadence used that moment to appeal to her.

"Hi, my name's Cadence," she said gently. "What's yours?"

The girl continued to sniff quietly. She eyed Cadence even further, wondered if she were a friend or foe. "I'm Grace."

* * *

**A/N: **So, what did you think? A juxtaposition for how things are for The Flash compared to how things are for Barry. Flash gets a hero's welcome (pun intended) but Barry may as well be a fish out of water. Anyway, with this story there's going to be a lot more action placed throughout rather than just leading up towards the end, so be ready for that. And those action scenes can be training scenes, sparring scenes, and actual fight scenes.

I do even have some ideas for Brady using his powers at school in a few interesting ways. I hope you all are ready!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Natalie:** Yep! It's like the Deadpool from _Teen Wolf_ but there are some things that'll be a bit different as well. Rather, it's my own spin on it, so I hope you're excited.

**DarkHelm145:** Well, it's not going to take too long for the final bounty and things for the Speed Force to be see more. I plan on having the pacing for the different story threads to come together a lot faster than some of my previous stories.

**Ethan:** Geo was mentioned in the last story, actually. Very briefly, and probably only once, but Geo was mentioned. Otherwise, there's more of the hit list coming up fast. There's more than enough to keep things interesting as this story goes on.


	9. Next To Normal

**08**

_Next To Normal_

* * *

"Do we still have that training session tonight?"

Brady barely heard Leah's question over the din of his classmates moving through the hallways, hurrying in the five minutes they had to get to their next class. He scrambled through the textbooks, notebooks, and loose pieces of paper inside, flinging them aside as he didn't find what he wanted.

"I think so," he said. "Dad's gonna drop me off at STAR Labs after we work on site a little bit." He frowned, folding his arms as he leaned back. His eyes bounced from his friends to the crowds of students that passed by them, noticing a few looked him funny as they went. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to his friends. "Do you have the history homework?" Leah lifted an eyebrow, mimicking him as she folded her arms. "What?"

"I'm not going to let you copy my homework."

"I didn't say anything about copying it. I just wanted to make sure I knew what it was in case Mr. Hawthorne asks about it."

"Mr. Hawthorne _always _asks about it."

"That's exactly why I'm asking you about the homework! Duh!" Brady's face screwed up into a comical expression that made Leah giggle quietly. Conner stood aside, smiling to himself. He looked over his shoulder as the hallways started to clear out, catching the eye of a few girls that quickly covered their mouths and scurried away, giggling. He tilted his head, eyebrows furrowing. "Do you have yours?"

"Didn't you just do it last night?" Conner asked. He pressed a finger to his temple. "Actually, I know you did. You were huffing over it all night."

Brady rolled his eyes. "You mean when Barry kept hovering around us asking if he could help with anything?" He turned back to his locker, seeing Conner and Leah exchange a glance out the corner of his eye. "I saw that."

"It's just…we thought you'd be happy Barry's back," Leah said quietly. She ran a hand through her hair, scratched the back of her neck. "The city is…" she shrugged, sighed. She didn't have to say it. Brady knew exactly what 'the city was'. It was falling apart. The low murmurs of anti-meta measures were continuing to increase in volume and with Lex Luthor's presence, stirring up those that agreed with his ideals, it was only a matter of time until things blew up. "He's been gone a long time."

"I know he's been gone a long time, Leah, I was there." Brady slapped his palm against his locker door and slammed it shut, making Conner and Leah jump. "I get reminded of it nearly every second of every day!" He gestured around the hallway where multiple lockers had the Flash's lightning bolt symbol that festooned the insides of lockers and the covers of notebooks and binders. (Though he couldn't help then note of pride that swelled within him when he saw nearly as many symbols that represented Flare on the same school supplies). "I don't need it from you, too." He frowned, noticing even more staring. "And _why _is everyone staring at me?!"

"Whoa!" Conner frowned, stepping in front of Leah. "She hasn't done anything. You don't need to be mad at her!"

"I'm not mad at her!"

"I know, you're mad at Barry. So be mad at Barry, don't take it out on us when we're trying to be there for you." Conner reached out and shoved Brady on the shoulder, making him take a step back. "Don't be such a jerk."

"'I'm not…being a jerk." Brady gazed over his friend's faces and sighed, his shoulders slumping. Yeah, he was being a jerk. They didn't deserve anything he was giving them, but it was easier than pretending everything at home was okay. Like nothing happened. Like…absolutely _nothing _happened. Brady rubbed his neck. "I'm being…" he trailed off and shrugged. Couldn't get the words out. "I'm sorry, okay?"

He didn't need to go further than that, could see in the way Conner and Leah nodded that they already accepted his apology before he spoke "And to answer your other question," Conner added. A light of amusement made his eyes sparkle, a light Brady hadn't seen in so long. The muscles around Conner's mouth twitched. "Why those girls keep staring at you? They think you're cute."

Brady stared blankly back at him. He sucked in a breath through his nose, blinked once, and said, "Speaking of Flash—"

"—I'm already ahead of you," Conner broke in. He motioned for them to move closer and they huddled around his phone as he pulled it out, blocking out any prying eyes that may have wanted to come closer. And if what Conner said was true—Brady felt his face turn red as an image of Deity suddenly appeared in his mind—he didn't need anyone to come closer. Conner pulled up a list of names, most of those they recognized, others were one-off villains they'd stopped over the past six months. "I looked over the information you gave me from Barry's return. And Wally wasn't kidding; he really is a lot faster now than he was before. I'm not a scientist, but I think he may have taken in some of the power from the Speed Force."

"That's what Aunt Caitlin was saying," Brady agreed.

"But Wally's gotten faster, too," Leah pointed out. She motioned to Brady then herself. "And we've gotten stronger with our training." Brady nodded. "Did the Speed Force really put his power levels up that high?"

Conner nodded. "The numbers don't lie." He swiped over on the page and opened a new app that Brady had never seen before. His eyes widened in surprise and he lifted an eyebrow as he looked toward his best friend. Conner shrugged modestly. "I had a lot of time to myself since Oliver…" he gestured with his hand. "Anyway, I had a lot of time to myself and I got to thinking of how to hold a more secure version of the Instagram account we'd made."

"And?" Brady prompted.

"And, once I got the old information from the Encyclopedia Caitlin had, it became a lot easier to figure out how to keep track of the power levels of the metas." He pressed his fingers to the screen and pinched them, making the screen zoom out to who a list of names and power levels next to them.

_Cool. _Brady leaned closer as he looked over the screen, finding his own name. Brady/Shadowhunter. He tapped his name and the entry opened to reveal a list of his general powers and abilities, the date he received his powers, and his classification of meta. "What's this?" He pointed to the number next to him name.

"Oh! Remember when I assigned different power levels to different metas? With Zoom and everything?"

"Oh." Brady's face screwed up. "Wait, why am I a two and a half and Leah's a three?" Brady rolled his eyes when Leah beamed with appreciation, gently nudging Conner with her shoulder. "If this is some kind of a boyfriend-girlfriend thing—"

"It's not!" Conner's face enflamed in seconds, making Brady grin in response. "It's just…her powers, sometimes, seem to be a little more useful in a fight." His eyes shifted. "Sometimes." Brady frowned. "But, of course, it's better to not be seen than to slam someone's face in the ground with a flick of your wrist. And you only just learned of your new ability, you still have to see if you really can do it or if it was a one-time thing."

"Okay, so what's Barry now? Last time you said he was a four bar."

Conner licked his lips. Paused. "He's a five bar." Brady's eyelashes fluttered in surprise. Part of him was knew it was going to be a big leap after seeing what he saw when he came from the Speed Force. But a leap _that _big? "Probably on the same level that Zoom was, but, you know, without the murderous rampage part. Savitar was at the same level, but from what you told me, from what I saw, he was completely crazy anyway."

"What about Miss. Cadence?" Leah tried. "And Cisco?"

"Cisco's a three bar. He hasn't been out in the field so much. Doesn't really use his powers for anything more than to open breaches. But Miss. Cadence…" Conner tapped on her name, then drummed his fingers on the back of his cell phone. "She's a five bar, too. Moved up to that list since she killed Breathtaker and came back from the Fire Fall. All her training sessions over the last six months have helped, too." He paused. "Or, maybe her mind-meld with Burnout? Sorry. I know you don't like to talk about…" He quickly trailed off when Brady lifted his chin and glared at him.

"Hey." Leah squeezed Brady's shoulder. "Let's just get to class, okay? Bell's going to ring any minute."

Brady groaned softly, immediately remember his dilemma from only a few minutes before. It was funny how quickly his life had become split in two. What was fun for him in the beginning; dreaming about his own set of powers and watching in awe as his mother became a hero to the city, had become something he stressed over and worried about others finding out, while also trying to help those that needed a support group.

Eleven years old and he was starting to understand why adults were so cranky all the time. _At least they don't have to go to school, _Brady thought. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and looked around at the emptying hallways. He grabbed Conner's and Leah's shoulders, backed up a step, and phased them through the wall and into the classroom behind them.

Surreptitiously, they went to their empty seats, Brady smiling to himself when he noticed Conner walk Leah over to hers, holding her hand as they went. At least something good was coming out of Conner's stay in Central City. Brady felt for him when he showed up on their doorstep with barely concealed tears rolling down his cheeks. It'd taken weeks for him not wake up the whole loft in the middle of the night with his screams and cries.

Plus, it was more fun when he had his best friend around. Not that he didn't like hanging out with Leah, she was cool. And it was fun to have someone who knew about his abilities and he didn't need to hide himself around her. It was just different. And, Conner had been there for Brady before, through everything without a thought or a question to the contrary. The least Brady could do was be there for him, too.

"What, did you, like, sneak in here?" Brady looked up as he sat down, and saw Rose sitting in front of him nose buried in a book. "I know people can walk quietly, but it's like you just appeared out of nowhere."

Brady snorted. "At least my parents don't name me after a bat," he remarked.

At that, Rose sat up straight and turned to him with a smile. "You figured that one out pretty quickly."

"Yeah, well." Brady shrugged. "I'm smarter than I look."

"Not by much. You look very smart." Rose continued to smile, her eyes flickering over his face. "Sort of like you have a secret or something. Though, if you did, I'm sure the entire class would know about it by now. Not many people here can keep a secret for more than five minutes." She nodded across the room to where Alicia and Rachel sat leaning toward each other and whispering quietly, pointedly looking at others around the room. "Not with the Gossip twins over there. Let's see what I heard this morning…" she sucked in a deep breath, squinting as she pretended to think. "One of eight grade teachers is pregnant, we're going camping for the class trip, and, apparently, Rachel hooked up with some guy over the summer but I can't say whether or not the last part is true."

"Because no one can stand her?"

"Because I don't care. Believe me when I say you're lucky you don't have lockers near those two. They talk about some of the most stupid things I've ever heard. There's people being unfairly incarcerated in Iron Heights every day and they care more about what's the popular shade of eyeshadow they should be wearing." Rose's eyebrows shot upwards. "And Alicia keeps going on about that Shadowhunter guy. He saves her life once and it's like he's the only person she cares about."

Brady sucked in a breath so sharp that he started to cough. Rose eyed him warily, half her face screwing up. He held up a hand, turning away to thump himself hard on the chest. Conner dropped into the seat next to him and made a similar face. "What's the matter with you, dude?"

"Nothing." Brady managed to get out. He smacked himself on the chest once last time, stopping his coughing fit. "I'm fine. Just choked on my spit."

"Geez, maybe _you're _Shadowhunter's number one fan," Rose teased. "I mean, we don't know how he swings either you or Alicia could get his attention." She giggled to herself, facing the front as the bell rang and the door to the classroom was closed.

"I always thought you had a bit of an ego," Conner joked.

"Shut up," Brady hissed back.

"Alright, let's pick up where we left off," Mr. Hawthorne said, moving to the front of the classroom, his booming voice immediately commanding attention of the middle school students. "Now, if you've done your homework, then you'll be fully prepared for this pop quiz I've got going."

Brady groaned along with the rest of the class as they moved to clear their things off their desk. He folded his arms and leaned against the table, hoping to make himself appear smaller. _Going invisible would be perfect right about now, _he thought. But knew it was useless. If he suddenly went invisible, he'd have all eyes on him when he was picked up by psychologists and government officials to poke and prod at him until he revealed everything about STAR Labs and the Flash and his identity as Shadow Hunter and…

"So…" Conner started. "How long do you think your mom will ground you if you take home another failed quiz?"

"Not long. She still doesn't know about the last one." Brady watched as Mr. Hawthorne walked around the room, passing out quizzes to hand to each other. He brought his hand to his mouth, biting his thumbnail, frowned in frustration. Of course, one of the few times he doesn't get his homework finished there'd be a pop quiz.

Brady let out a low breath, running a hand over his forehead, suddenly feeling sweat dot at his hairline. He wiped at it, let out another breath, and rubbed his hands together, palms suddenly filled with as much sweat as flooded with his pits. He was suddenly really glad his father suggested he wear deodorant that day, sure that he would've given off an even worse stench than he had to have been before.

He started to breathe in again, feeling it come in a sharp breath, releasing it as quickly. Tried to draw in another one and it was just the same. The room around him started to hum. Brady looked up as Rose passed him a quiz, muttering a low thanks, then dropped it to his desk.

"Dude, are you okay?" Conner asked. Brady shook his head. His knees started to bounce up and down. He rubbed at his arms and cracked at his neck. The hum grew louder and louder. "You really don't look so good."

"What do you mean?"

Conner motioned towards his eyes, immediately making Brady's heart sink. He'd felt that way only once before, but that time it was accompanied by the feeling of intense anger and hurt he'd never felt before. The realization of what he thought, at the time, was a life he'd have to grow up in without his mother in it.

That wasn't good.

"I'll give you twenty minutes, and then we'll—"

"Mr. Hawthorne?" Brady shot his hand into the air so fast his shoulder popped, releasing pain into his arm. It was nothing compared to the pain of his heart thrumming against his ribcage. "Can I go to the nurse?" His eyes shifted aside. "I don't feel so good."

"Brady, may I remind you that not having your homework isn't a good reason to try and go to the nurse," Mr. Hawthorne explained with a disapproving frown. "If you're unprepared for this pop quiz, then we can talk about it after."

"Mr. Hawthorne, he really doesn't look good," Rose said. "And, I don't know about you, but I don't think you want some sort of lawsuit on your hands about taking away common rights." She blinked and smiled tightly. "Like the land taken away from my ancestors."

Rachel groaned loudly, tilting her head back as she rolled her eyes. "That was hundreds of years ago, get over it already!"

"I will when you get over yourself."

"That's enough!" Mr. Hawthorne closed his eyes, sighing heavily. He pointed toward the door. "Brady, if you really feel that badly, please go to the nurse. But try to hurry back, we have a lot to go over today."

Brady nodded and got to his feet. He grabbed his backpack and hurried from the room, glancing at Conner and Leah before he left the room. He made it halfway to the nurse's office before slowing to a stop. He swallowed hard, mind whirring at a mile a minute.

The last time he went to the nurse's office, he ended up with an order to go get some shots from the doctor's office. Shots that only he and Leah had received. Shots that had, suddenly, made his father fly into a rage that he'd never seen before. All because he was afraid of the fingerprints he had to put in the system for…for something?

Almost as if he were being tracked…

Brady lifted his gaze and scanned the hallway, looked at the cameras that had been set up. Thought of all the extra measures that had been put in place since Leah first went out of control and attacked the school, since Grodd had attacked, since they'd cracked down on anyone they'd find with metahuman abilities…

Brady ducked into the bathroom, placing his hands on the counter and tried to even his breathing. Frantically searched his reflection for any changes, for his eyes to darken to an inky black or lighten to a bright yellow. Was relieved when he saw nothing. He got it, then. Got why Ryder reacted so badly about the shots, why his mom was always so worried when he went to school even when she didn't say it, the hushed whispers about certain news reports, the worries about what Lex Luthor was up to and what Chief Paulson was going to do next.

He got it.

And, in that moment, wanted, more than anything, to be a normal kid again.

* * *

Barry strolled into STAR Labs with an especially large spring to his step. Everything about the laboratories was just as he had left it. Nothing there had changed. And he was going to test out a new suit, just as he always did when Cisco added something new to the design. Finally, something that was the same. He could sit back and patrol the city as he always did, be a hero in his own right and have some intelligent conversation about…whatever it was that popped up. Not to mention being able to talk to _someone _about all the shows he missed, Cisco would definitely be up to that.

It was hard not to leap back into going to work, but Barry's first interaction with Cadence reminded him the best course of action of his return. If he arrived back to work the same day the Flash returned to the city, he'd have too many people looking at him funny. Wondering if there was any sort of connection there. Cadence was the first one to realize it. _Then again, she'd been tasked to kill me, _Barry reminded himself.

But if he put his guard down…

Barry shook his head, leaning against the back wall of the elevator, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked down at the fresh pair of Converse shoes he wore, a pair that would be scuffed down on the right side the more he ran and stopped on them. Nothing was better than starting up a day of training with a new pair of shoes.

Excitement that seemed to be rivaled by Cisco's own giddiness. Even Barry could hear it in Cisco's voice on the message left on his cell phone. A regular "Get to STAR Labs as soon as you can," message. But one that wasn't life or death sort of situation. There weren't many times that came across in Central City and Barry wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The bell to the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Barry strolled through the doors and to the short walk to the Cortex, barely able to conceal the grinning smile that came to his face when he saw the hub for their Team Flash activities. The "command center" of sorts seemed a little different, Barry realized as he walked toward the desk. But, otherwise, it looked the same.

"So," Barry said as he waltzed into the Cortex. "What was it you wanted to show me?" He nodded to Wally, who distractedly greeted Barry when he came in. Cisco let out a low mumble, waving his hand behind him as he leaned into his computer screen, fingers flying over his keyboard. Barry tilted his head, watching the characters fly back and forth across the screen. "What is that?"

"Fortnite," Wally replied, eyes glued to the screen. He chuckled, shaking his head. "Where've you been?"

Barry's mouth dropped then closed, as he tried to figure out the best response. Wally looked at Barry from the corner of his eye, grimacing. He let out a sigh, running a hand over his hair. "Um. Yeah, I'm, sorry Barry, I forgot…"

"It's alright," Barry replied. "I wasn't really into video games before, anyway. But…this seems really cool." He leaned closer to the computer screen. "Man, look at those graphics. And the—"he reached out to touch the computer screen, jumping when Cisco made a loud sound of protest.

"Don't touch the screen!" He cried. "Don't even breathe! I need to concentrate so I can!" He let out a yelp then shook his fists at the sky! "Curse you Chad!"

"Who's Chad?"

"The little sycophant pee-on that's going to get his ass kicked the next time we meet on this game!" Cisco flipped up the microphone that sat by his lips, the ear-piece wedged into his ear. "Oh-_ho_ are we going to meet again! And this time, I'm going to win!" He looked to the side, as if noticing Barry for the first time and leaned back, a grin spreading across his face. "Well, hello my speedster friend. What brings you to the Cortex on this lovely day?"

Barry shot him and amused smile. "Well, it seems that I got a message on my phone saying I needed to come in this morning." He then noticed Cisco's eyebrow twitching upwards and rolled his eyes, taking a step back, allowing Cisco to stand. "Haha."

Cisco grinned, chuckling to himself, then reached out, enveloping Barry in a tight hug. Barry slapped Cisco on the back, hugging him as tightly. Relaxed, knowing that, finally, it seemed like someone missed him. He didn't realize how much he missed having Cisco around until he was stuck in the Speed Force with no one to help him get back. Had Cisco been there, too, not only would he have been entertained, but they would've thought of all the best ways to even try to get out of the prison.

"It's good to have you back, man." Cisco leaned back, gently slapping his palm against Barry's cheek. "We really missed having you around here."

"Yeah, I hate to admit it," Wally said, reaching over to give Barry a hug as well. "I missed seeing you out in the field. You know…" he slowly smiled. "Beating you in a foot race."

"Yeah, you wish."

"I think you mean Kid Flash."

"Yeah, that argument doesn't really help you, Wally." Cisco rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. He walked across the Cortex floor towards the mannequins that were set up to house their suits. Barry noticed that Cadence's and Brady's were set up and looked them over. They looked the same as he remembered. And yet, looking closer, he could see the wear and tear on the suits, months of taking down whatever it was that came up. "Come, come! I've got a surprise! A welcome back gift from your boy!" Cisco went to the sheet that covered Barry's suit and whisked it off with an excited cry of, "Kablam!"

Barry tried not to make a face. Tried not to let the first thing that came to mind take on an expression that would take down Cisco's excitement. Instead, he brought up a hand to cover his mouth. He cleared his throat and said slowly, "I mean, that was a pretty good reveal and everything." Cisco nodded. Barry rushed to continue. "But I've seen that suit, I've already used it."

"Yeah." Wally folded his arms, unable to keep the envy out of his voice. "We know you gave Barry's suit a nice, fancy makeover."

"Yeah, yeah, green eyes." Cisco held his hand out toward Wally, dismissing him. Wally chuckledin amusement. "But what you don't know, you don't know. And what I've built under all this red, beautiful leather, is stuff you can only imagine." Cisco spun in a quick circle, unable to keep a giddy giggle from escaping. Barry and Wally exchanged amused smiles. "Liiike, self-repairing armor, nano-liquid circuitry, full spectrum scanning and other things such as…" He picked up a tablet and tapped his fingers into the screen. Barry jumped as there was a low sliding sound and the eye holes of his suit suddenly turned yellow with a visor-like material that slid down. "Your very own custom made HUD."

"HUD?" Wally repeated, nose wrinkling.

"Head's up display," Barry explained. "It's a transparent display that shows data without requiring the person to look away from their usual viewpoints."

"Oh." Wally nodded. "So, like that Google Glass thing."

Cisco snorted loudly, an expression of pure disbelief written on his face. He waved a hand. "Google wishes!" He turned back to Barry and started to count off on his fingers. "I'm talking maps, schematics, delivery menus; like that Thai place you love so much."

"So everything you put into Cade's suit."

Barry's mouth dropped open in shocked surprise. He covered his mouth with his hand then slapped his palm into Cisco's hand. "Dude, this is awesome!" His heart swelled with as much pride that Cisco exuded as he worked over his good work. Barry stepped forward, looking closer at the new suit in front of him. It looked to be just the same as the suit he wore before, but something about it was…just newer. Better.

A start to a new life.

"What else does it do?"

Cisco beamed. He wiggled a finger in the air and turned to retrieve something from his desk. "Well, lucky for you, I've got an instruction manual for you." He picked up what looked to be the size of a brick and heaved it at Barry, who caught it against his chest and stumbled, working to keep himself upright. Eyes widening, Barry turned the binder in his arms and saw the multiple tabs for each new component of his suit.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL

FIRE SUPPRESSION

BABEL PROTOCOL

PULSE CANNON

COMMS

DEADLOCK

R-SK8S

FLOTATION

And little tabs that broke each tab down to an even smaller section. So much information to go through that it'd take multiple shots of sending it to his short term memory for him to remember everything he needed to learn for the long run. Barry turned a disbelieving gaze to Wally, who held up his hands and took a step back.

"You know what?" He said. "I'm good with my suit. I'm good where I'm at right now." He patted Barry on the shoulder. "Nice to have you back, Barry."

"Yeah, thanks, Wally." Barry shook his head, continuing to flip through pages. He cleared his throat, setting the instructions aside. "Yeah, uh, you know, I thought, maybe we'd, you know, have a bit of a training session today. To, uh, get back up to speed." He rolled his neck and shoulders, noticing Wally perk up from the corner of his eye. "See where my top speed's at." He extended his arms, interlocking his fingers to frack them. "Wally, did you want to help me?"

Wally shrugged nonchalantly. "'Oh, you know. Only if you needed some help. Set some time. Work out a time trial. See how fast you _really _are."

Lightning flashed through both of their eyes.

Cisco practically squealed in excitement, clasping his hands together. "Oh! I feel a race coming on!" He clapped his hands twice. "Come, come!" He took long strides out of the Cortex, hand still high in the air. "To the speed lab!" He stopped short, hair blowing back from his face when the speedsters raced by him. "Ok! Now you're just showing off!"

* * *

Holographic screens hung around DeVoe as he watched the news being played out in front of him. News reports on the return of the Flash. The Scarlett Speedster's arrival had excited most of the city, and yet, there were still those that felt the presence of metahumans was a recipe for danger and nothing more.

Intuitively, DeVoe could understand both sides. There was something special about the fastest man alive who could save you from potential death in the blink of an eye. An angel watching over the city with his team of heroes by his side. All the same, there were worries.

"When the Flash was gone, Flare took up a lot of what needed to be done around the city," Marlize said, drawing DeVoe's eye away form a holographic screen to look at his wife. He smiled, the corner of his mouth turning up when he saw her in her long white coat, inky black hair pulled behind her hears, slicked back to keep from her face. Alert. "And yet, the residents still fear her. Thanks to Incognito taking the first step of ruining the citizen's views of her and then the nuclear crisis that was the gorilla attack, there is disbelief in what The Flash can do upon his return."

"I'm sure we've got Lex Luthor to thank for that," DeVoe drawled.

Marlize turned to her husband, a smile in her eyes. "You don't think he's going to ruin our plans?"

"Ruin them?" He waved a hand. "Absolutely not. I've planned too long for something like that to ruin what we have. I'm always one step ahead, remember." He tapped his fingers against his temples. "And besides, I want to make sure they have some time to themselves. Think they're safe…get them when their guard is down and see how they come back from it."

Marlize shook her head. The top of her hair didn't move, the silky strands at the bottom swished with each gentle movement of her head. "Wanting to see how their minds work—"

"—Testing them—"

"—Admit it, Clifford, that's for your own amusement."

"Well…"

Marlize walked to her husband, her footsteps low, almost silent across the floor of their hideout. She ran her hand lovingly down her husband's arm before passing him by to approach the stand behind his chair. DeVoe directed his chair around, the holographic screens blinking out, and watched as his wife picked up a screwdriver and the faceplate of a Samuroid.

"As for this test," Marlize mused. She held the face in her hand, running her thumb over the smooth, metallic curves of the samurai's cheeks. "What is it going to prove?" She lifted her hand, being careful with the screwdriver that lay nestled in her fingers, and drew her fingers across the air, opening up another holographic screen. She folded her arms, tilting her head. "What do we need with him?"

DeVoe pressed his lips together, watching an image of a man standing in the middle of the forest, slowly moving through katas with a sword in hand. Black Blade. "This is a contingency plan of sorts," he murmured.

"But Clifford. You know everything that's to happen. You say there's a 90% chance that—"

"—And yet, there's that 10% chance of failure. I intend to drop that percentage even lower than that." DeVoe tightened his grasp on the arm of his wheelchair—manufactured into a hover chair. "Let me know when you're finished with that Samuroid. Something tells me we'll need more than where that one came from."

"Yes, Clifford. It shouldn't take more than a few more minutes, my love."

DeVoe smiled without smiling. "Excellent."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm so excited for you guys to see what's next! With a lot of different storylines. As you know I do things differently than the show, so you're gonna see what's different with Killer Frost. Not to mention what's going on with the Samuroid, that bounty list, and many others. Like I said before, I'm working to keep my pacing up so we'll see how it all goes!

I'm open to any and all predictions! :)

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**DarkHelm145:** Oh yeah, there's a lot of things going on early that affect this story and the next one for things that I've got planned. I really can't wait for everyone to see the whole pay off. Bbut, we've all got to wait. Lol. I hope you're excited for the next chapter!

**yummers:** Yeah, things with Barry aren't going to be as easy as he'd like.

**Jason Hunter:** You're absolutely right! Though, I realized I could have Grace come in early and then have it work through this story and through the next one with season 5.

**Ethan:** He's a speedster, what do you expect. Buuuut Cade can eat as much as he can and burn-literally-all the calories. And then Brady and Conner are teen boys who are very active so they're bound to eat a lot as well even though Barry could've done it all himself. Lol. Yep, that's what I'm working to portray, that it won't be easy for Barry to get back to the way things were.


	10. Deadly Liasons

**09**

_Deadly Liasons_

* * *

Tess looked up at the knock on her door. If she were surprised to find Lex Luthor in her office, she didn't show it. Instead, she motioned for Lex to close the door behind him, which he obliged to do, before sinking into the seat across from her.

"I hope you don't mind, but you do have your open hours posted," Lex commented. He sank back in his seat, running a hand over his bald head, the largest of grins on his face. "I have to say, it's really refreshing to know there are professors here that are actually there for their students."

Tess lifted an eyebrow. "I think it's been a while since you've been to university, Lex," she remarked. Then corrected herself, "Mr. Luthor. However, there were enough stories of your time growing up for me to question how long it was that you lasted in university yourself."

Lex smiled, tapping his fingers at his lower lip. A calculated drumming of his fingertips in a beat that would've been for the air conditioning unit blowing in the corner of her office. She turned away from her laptop, closing the lid then turned off the monitor of her PC, resting her hands atop the closed laptop. She eyed Lex for a moment, briefly breaking their intense eye contact to assure herself that the stack of ungraded papers wasn't about to slide off her desk, then looked back at him to see he hadn't taken his eyes off her.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure, Mr. Luthor?" She asked.

Lex's eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly. "Is it?" He asked. "A pleasure to see me, I mean?"

Tess didn't have a big enough ego to think he was flirting with her, to charm her in some way. No, she could tell from the very subtle twitch of his eyebrows that he was testing her, waiting to see what her reaction would be. If she passed, he'd stay and talked, if she failed…well, there was a reason the Luthors were synonymous with power.

And Lex was never an exception.

"Well, it's not every day that someone of your status decides to come to a place like this. And, no, I'm not referring to the university," Tess said quickly, noticing Lex's eyebrows rise once more. "I mean for Central City. But, as for you being at the university, I'm surprised the President isn't giving you a tour himself."

"That's because the President doesn't know I'm here." Lex picked up a stress ball in the shape of a Globe from the desk—a gift from Brady—and squeezed it in his hand. He watched it pop open when he released his palm, smiling in amusement as the continents popped out when he squeezed it once more. "I don't know about you, but all that press and fanfare can be debilitating after a while." He pointed a finger towards Tess. "But you'd know about that, right? Wife of the famed Harrison Wells, gosh, even when you returned from the dead, I'm sure you had people floating around."

She did, but she preferred not to think about think about it. It wasn't anything that happened for more than a few days, anyway. The news became old once the next metahuman of the day attacked. It was the way she wanted it, having kept everything on the down low as she tried to recuperate from the accident, the painful physical therapy that went with it, the anxiety, the PTSD, things she still struggled with.

"No one more interesting than those that are continuously coming to you with potential business ventures, I suppose," Tess replied. She continued to watch Lex as closely as he watched her. "There's more to your visit, isn't there?"

Lex's lips pulled back into a large grin. "You're very perceptive, Ms. Morgan."

"So I've been told."

"But I'm sure it has more to do with your business in psychology than it being of natural talent. Not to say that you don't have your talents, but it must be something you've had to work to figure out." He gently licked his lips, giving another squeeze of the stress ball. "'But us Luthors, we tend to go straight to the point after a bit of schmoozing, though I don't see it as something you'd fall for easily." He set the stress ball onto the desk and leaned back, crossing his legs at the knee. "Well, as you know, I'm a big proponent for the Metahuman Registration Act; for all metahuman to be identified in an official census documenting their numbers, abilities and whereabouts."

Tess nodded slowly, listened to Lex's words all the while watching him carefully. She didn't expect him to be dangerous in any way. Powerful, maybe, he was Luthor. And there wasn't anything in his tone that immediately let her red flags wave. No, the red flags were of the conversation topic itself and her own connection to it.

"Genetically altered humans…metahumans are everywhere," Lex continued, as if he were reading off a script for one of his campaign commercials. Harrison always made a show of changing the channel whenever Lex's face appeared on screen. "No place, not even your own home is safe." He pressed a hand to his chest. "I understand that and Lex Luther understands that and I'm ready to fight for human preservation. There was a great deal of those affected by the meteor showers in Smallville and…" he shrugged. "We know how that turned out."

Tess mimicked Lex, leaning back in her seat, folding her arms. "You still haven't told me what this has to do with me. Or why you intended to visit me today."

"Well, as the leading scientist in psychology the city has ever seen, well, that even mankind has ever seen, there was no one else in Central City I could come to."

Tess chuckled quietly. She knew a butter up when she heard one. There were more than enough red flags waving by that point, but she was also interested to know what else he had to say. He was very comfortable in himself and his words, dealing with the metahuman "problem" had been his campaign promise as long as she could remember. But to try and flatter her once more, when it hadn't worked the first time?

There truly was something she had that he needed.

"I'm pushing for the Metahuman Registration Act, to make things safer for all of our families." Lex continued as if Tess hadn't asked him a question. "Where all metahumans—and others with enhanced powers and abilities—will require mandatory registration of all metas by the federal government. People with enhanced genetic powers…and then we have those that work themselves around The Flash." Lex waved a hand. His smile slowly widened as the seconds passed. "There were more than enough of those I've seen in Smallville, Metropolis…everyone loves the Red Blue Blur."

"There's not many people that will understand people like them," Tess said calmly. She unfolded herself from her seated position and leaned forward, lacing her fingers together atop her laptop once more. "And, yes, I plan on being one of those people." She looked Lex in the eye. "Because they're still people, Lex."

Lex lifted a finger, waving it back and forth. Almost as if looking to punish her for interrupting him. No. The light in his eyes, the flashing was enough to show how much he was enjoying the conversation. The volleying of their ideals. And they'd only just gotten started. "I need to remind you of the meta threat currently facing our nation. Where do they live and why are they so dangerous? The answer is very frightening. Now, as you did bring up I have had some experience with meteor freaks, but as far as I know, there hasn't been any meteor showers here in Central City." He leaned towards Tess, his face darkened. "But there's Harrison Wells and the Particle Accelerator Explosion. And that becomes interesting considering your marriage to the man behind the Particle Accelerator."

Tess didn't take that bait. Instead, she said, "You seem to be forgetting, Lex, that what happened with the Particle Accelerator was an accident. It wasn't anything any of us could've determined to come back from, or could even stop. Calculations were miscalculated."

"And does your husband always miscalculate?"

She ignored the question with a skillful avoidance of her eyes. Looked to the second monitor of her computer. That wasn't abnormal and worked well with what she needed to portray. She was a busy professor with numerous classes, numerous students, numerous studies of her own if she wanted to be published. A busy woman who needed to be in constant communication, as much as that bothered Harrison. He was always the one to say they didn't need to bring work home with them, but was quick to shut up if it had anything to do with STAR Labs and The Flash.

"Humans, by nature all have the genetic potential for change."

Lex licked his lips, spoke quickly. "So you're saying everyone can become a meta? That there's some sort of formula that'd do it?" He shook his head, almost patronizingly.

Tess paused, tilting her head aside.

"So far there hasn't been anyone whose managed to come across meteor rock that didn't have some sort of reaction to it. The time they've taken to try and realize what it is they can do, the more innocent people have been hurt. We can't have that moving forward."

At that, Tess shook her head, blue eyes flashing with the righteous anger that bloomed in her chest. "People are afraid by nature," she said quickly, words coming out faster the more she spoke. "If there's something they don't understand, their anxiety is a manifestation of the deep-seeded fear of the unknown. There is a strong prejudice based on fear of those with power and fear that the powers will be used on people." She leaned forward to drive the point home. "The same could be said for you, Mr. Luthor, with the power you possess."

"So you think, fundamentally, there isn't anything different between man and metahuman?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. There, theoretically, may be a metahuman gene—"

"Theoretically?" Tess pressed her lips together. This was the part that would be the hardest to navigate. Lex's eyes burned with a fire of excitement, that he was on the right track to something big. _How right he is, _Tess thought. "The city knows that there are metahumans and there are measures being put in place to keep themselves safe. Why else would the CCPD have an Anti-Metahuman Task Force? Something that could've been implemented sooner in Metropolis and Smallville. I applaud you all for that. But if we funnel more finances into that sector, we can eradicate the city of metahumans. There has to be a first step. And the first step is registration."

Tess shook her head.

Lex continued to smile. He got to his feet and paced Tess's office, scanning the posters, photos, and books she had organized around the office. "You don't agree?"

"No."

"If you're born different and with powers, you pose an instantaneous threat." He walked to the window that overlooked Central City University's campus and looked out, cupping his hands together behind his back. "There are three forces at work here; one is human beings that fear metas, the second are those like the Assassination Bureau,"—Tess's breathing changed, quickly turning labored. The office suddenly felt small, smaller than all the books she had stacked up in all corners. "-who want to preserve metas by any means necessary. And then there are those who want to save the world of those that hate and fear them. The question is, which part do you want to be part of?"

Tess cleared her throat. "We're in as much danger as someone who'd want to break into my house and rob me blind," she pointed out. She nodded towards Lex's back. "And, if I remember correctly, you and your father had the same worries, considering the amount of money you funneled into Metropolis by yourselves."

"Are you as familiar with the city of Smallville as you are Metropolis?"

"I'm sure it's more classified as a town, but yes. I've spent a lot of time there over the years."

"Well, Ms. Morgan, need I point out that the meteor freaks there and the metahumans here cause more than just fear to the residents, but have also caused catastrophic damage and financial burden that will simply make it more difficult for the cost of living—hell, for the city to thrive in general."

Tess couldn't help herself. She rolled her eyes before planting her feet on the floor to turn her chair around, glaring towards Lex's back. "You keep insisting that all metas are evil when it's clear there are those out there risking their lives daily to protect us."

"I assume you're referring to The Flash, Flare, and the ones that work along with them?" Lex shrugged. "Just like the Red-Blue Blur, they're attributed to everything that has been going on." He looked over his shoulder at Tess. "Though their perception doesn't seem to be as highly regarded as before."

"Do you think you'll pass your bill?"

Lex was silent for a long moment. His shoulders hunched, muscles tensing along his jaw. Tess brushed hair blonde hair back from her face, continuing to watch him. Waited. Finally, he nodded, the movement casting a bobbing shine off the back of his bald head. "Absolutely. If we don't…we'll be destroyed. And I don't know if you know, but I happen to destroy anything that gets in my way. I intend to have it so that it is illegal to be a meta-human."

He turned and flashed Tess a charming smile, eyes flickering over the clock resting on the wall. "But I see I've taken up a lot of your time, Ms. Morgan. I hope we can converse again, soon. Today has been really eye opening." He started toward the door, stopping only when Tess spoke up.

"If you do pass this bill, what do you intend for it to bring to everyone?"

"Happiness," Lex said simply. "That's all everyone wants out of life, isn't it?" With that, he disappeared from the room as quickly as he came.

Tess leaned back in her seat, twisting her mouth to the side. Thought of everything that Lex had said that day. Tried to see things from his point of view, the fear, his want of power…and still couldn't come up with any society that'd be enhanced with the complete eradication of metahumans.

She'd been testing Lex as much as he'd been testing her, and she wasn't quite sure if either of them passed or failed.

* * *

Caitlin pushed past the drunkenly amorous couple who blocked the doorway to the bar. She pulled her leather jacket tighter around her and headed straight for the bar. Straight for the man who was by himself, half of his head shaved, the other half a strange concoction of braids and straight hair, pulled into what resembled a waterfall over the side of his head.

His sightless eye faced her, and the closer she came, the more of him she could see. Her eyes scanned his body, his pockets. No weapons that she noticed. That was a good sign. If there were anything such a thing as good signs when it came to Matthew Norvok.

"Where have you been?"

It took a second for her to realize that he was talking to her despite him not having had turned his head. She took in a deep breath, steadied herself to keep her voice from shaking as she said, "Doesn't matter," in response.

A snicker escaped Norvok. "Really?"

"Really." She flicked an eyebrow upward. Wished he was looking at her so she could tell him directly where he could take his snicker and shove it. He didn't control her anymore. Neither of them did. "Tell Amunet I'm out." The words that finally escaped her made her smile, pressure lifted from her shoulders.

Norvok snickered once more. He lifted his thumb to rub his nose. "You want to quit, Snow?" Finally, slowly, he turned his gaze toward Caitlin, to look at her from the eye that could see. It looked her up and down, lips curling in disgust. "You want to quit?" He pushed himself off the bar and moved closer to her. "It doesn't work that way." He got into her face.

Caitlin recoiled, the scent of the alcohol on his breath was sour, a musky smell that coincided with the stench of unbrushed teeth. Caitlin's stomach recoiled as much as her body did. Norvok continued to inch closer to her, making her inch backwards, keeping a safe distance between them. "You do what Amunet says for as long as she tells you."

Clenched fists and a last shot of strength spurred Caitlin forward. "Not anymore." She turned to leave, hair swinging as she went. "Now leave me alone." She barely got the last word from her mouth when a strong grasp landed on her upper arm and held her firm, twisting her around. "Ugh!" The smell of alcohol and unbrushed teeth overwhelmed her once more, Norvok putting his face close to hers.

"You don't tell us what to do," he hissed, spittle landing on her face. "Now come on!" He turned and yanked Caitlin behind him as he navigated through the bar. Past the raucous young men shouting at TV screens, and the bachelorette party who were already three sheets to the wind, past the young men hustling those at the pool tables, past the kitchen that held an inch of dirty mop water from a leaking mop bucket in the corner, and to the door at the back of the bar.

Norvok ripped it open and shoved Caitlin in front of him. She stumbled on the rickety top step, grasping the handrail to keep herself from falling down. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. _So close. You were so close._

A light nudge on her back.

She gripped the rail tighter.

"Move or I'll make you move."

Her feet started down the narrow stairwell until she reached the ground of the cool basement. On autopilot, she made her way toward the office at the back of the basement, keeping her eyes away from the young men in the middle of the boxing ring set up in the basement, both bloody and bruised, working to catch their breath.

"Oh, that's right," Amunet Black said, patting one of them on the arm. She pulled her hand back, making a quick face as blood stained her fingertips. "You just make sure to fight harder this time, alright? Wouldn't want to send any shrapnel into that fine specimen of a body now would we? Huh?" She wiggled a bucket of metal pieces back and forth.

Fear spread over the mens' faces and they were back to wailing on each other, the sickening sound of flesh against flesh filled the room. Amunet stopped wiggling the bucket, dropped it with a clang, and turned away from the ring, rolling her eyes.

"The girls were more interesting," she murmured. Then her eyes met Caitlin's and lit up like fireworks. As bright as the smile that came to her face. "Ah! Caity! Just who I was looking for! Have you been hiding from me?" She brushed a braid over her shoulder. "You should know it takes more than your clever tricks to hide from me." Then she waved a hand in Caitlin's direction but over her shoulder. "Thank you, Norvok, that'll be all."

Norvok grunted and moved away.

Amunet walked toward Caitlin and ran her hands through the brunette's hair, smoothing it down around her face. She gently patted her fingertips against Caitlin's cheeks. "There, now, you look a little more presentable. Never say I don't do anything for you, dear." She flittered her fingers toward the boxing ring. "Or else I'd put you to work in there. I know there are a lot of people that would find it interesting."

Caitlin shook her head. Took in a deep breath. "Amunet…" she started.

"There's something I need you to take care of for me," Amunet said, the grin frozen on her face. As if she hadn't heard Caitlin start to speak. As if she hadn't seen the trepidation over Caitlin's face. Caitlin folded her arms, lifting an eyebrow. "Ugh." She pointed her finger at Caitlin's face, circling the oval shape, lips pulling back into an almost sneer. "No, not from…_that_. From your other part. You know, the one that actually helps me, not _pouts_. Come on," she curled her finger. "Bring her out." Caitlin rolled her eyes, tightened her grasp around herself. She cocked her hip and looked back at Amunet. If it were possible for her eyebrow to raise even higher, it did in that moment. "Oh, come on, Caity! You know what'll happen…"

Caitlin looked away, shaking her head. Nose wrinkled as she weighed her options. _What options? _She thought, upper lip curling in disgust. Disgust at herself, at the predicament she'd gotten herself into. _The only option you have, statistically, is to do it. You don't have anyone else you could go to right now. _Guilt punched her in the stomach, making her shoulders slump, making her place a hand on her stomach to determine whether Amunet had managed to extend her gauntlet into her stomach without Caitlin noticing. She did have the self-assurance to do what she pleased without an ounce of care.

It wasn't quite true, her having no one to go to. She did have someone. More than one person. Cisco. Joe. Wally. Iris…and even then it'd been hard for her to get back to. Cisco had seemed so gung-ho about her return that she actually tricked herself into believing it was a good idea.

And yet…

Caitlin still remembered the butterflies that erupted in to her stomach as she walked along the warm tarmac. It wasn't so late in the day that the sun rising high in the sky would've reduced them to taking cover under the awnings hanging off the sides of the STAR Labs van. But her armpits still flodded with seat, nervous of what was to happen that morning.

She had no idea how Cisco managed to convince her to come, but he'd been nothing but persistent. Caitlin hemmed and hawed as much as she could, trying her hardest not to look in Cadence's direction the entirety of her shift at the bar, the fire metahuman clearly as blindsided as she was to be there. Honestly, it was probably the least friendly she'd ever known Cadence to be, completely ignoring Caitlin unless she had no choice but to address her when she wanted another drink or something to eat.

Caitlin wasn't as nice either, but she didn't have time for pleasantries, not when Norvok was watching her like a hawk. But that morning as she walked towards the STAR Labs equipment, Caitlin was at least glad she didn't have anyone watching her like a hawk. All eyes on her would've been harder to deal with than the potential shunning she could get instead.

Keeping her eyes on Cisco, Caitlin inched closer, coming into hearing distance of the conversation Team Flash were having. "I'm glad you guys agreed to help me out," he said, coming out from inside the van closest to the equipment set up.

"Help you out?" Joe repeated. His eyebrows lifted behind his dark sunglasses. "Cisco, you said we would be dead to you if we didn't help you out." Cisco pressed his lips together, placing his hands on his hips. "And, I don't know about you, but your 'silent treatments' are worse than actual silent treatments."

Wally chuckled as Cisco ran a hand through his hair, mumbling something about people enjoying time spent with him. He rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt and asked, "So, what are we doing out here, Cisco?"

"It seemed an appropriate venue," Cisco explained, spreading his arms wide to take in the air field. "We've had a lot of good luck here." He sighed wistfully, turning around the survey the air field. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, chest swelling with pride. "Oh yes, this venue is perfect. Poignant. A callback if you will."

Wally waved his hand, urging Cisco to get to his point faster. A tiny joke that wasn't lost on Caitlin, who laughed quietly as she watched the three. "Why do we need good luck?"

"Because!" Cisco stuck a finger in the air. His eyes shifted over the Wests' faces, alight with an almost mad scientist quality. "We're bringing Barry, back!"

"What?" Even from where she stood, Caitlin saw Joe's eyebrows came together at the same time his voice turned incredulous. "Okay, I can handle speedsters, metahumans, magic, I mean even believe in witches and wizards at this point. But Barry's gone…" The hitch in his breath was painful. "Into the Speed Force. And he's not going to come back until it…I don't know, spits him out or something."

"Yeah, man, that Speed Force Prison…" Wally shook his head, shoulders rising in a shrug. "It's not going to let him back out when we say it needs to. The Speed Force runs on itself, it…it has its reasons to keep him in there."

"Guys, come on." Cisco roll his eyes, raising his hands before slapping them to his sides once more. "The four of us…" he gesticulated wildly in a way that made Caitlin's smile grow. No matter how beat down he could be from everyone around him, Cisco still managed to keep a hint of exuberance to his tone.

_He really believes we can do it, _Caitlin thought.

Wally stuck a hand in the air. Cisco nodded toward him and he quickly brought it back down, pressing his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Uh, what do you mean the four of us? I mean, I'm not the _best _in school but I think you can count to three?"

Caitlin knew that was the time for her to announce herself. A 'perfect moment' as Cisco said. Not that they'd spent the night orchestrating the perfect time to reveal her presence to the team, but it was better to break the ice in that way. "Uh…" Caitlin twisted her fingers together, stepping closer. Wally and Joe both eyed her—thought Caitlin wasn't quite sure with Joe, he was still wearing his sunglasses. "Hi, Joe." She lifted her hand in a tiny wave. "'Hi, Wally."

Lightning immediately flashed through Wally's eyes as he crouched low. Caitlin saw in the way he shifted his feet, tensed his muscles, that he was seconds away from running forward and…and what? Attacking her? Ready to sweep the rest of the team away?

"It's okay!" Cisco hurried between the two, holding out his hands in case something were about to break out, ready to open a breach to send someone packing. "it's Caitlin. _Our_ Caitlin. She's going to help us. There's nothing…Frosty there." He waved a hand and watched the two sides.

Caitlin watched Cisco in turn, unable to keep her gaze on Joe and Wally. Not without shame rocking her gut. Not without the memory of attacking her friends…her family…

"So…what do you say?"

Joe sucked in a deep breath. He looked at Cisco, at Caitlin, then back at Cisco. His eyebrows came together, the line in his forehead deepening with each step he took toward the mechanical engineer. "You better be right."

"I am," Cisco said confidently. He reached out toward Caitlin, grabbing her hand to pull her closer into the circle. It wasn't the best welcome, she didn't know what else to expect, but it was something. Wally looked to her and nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Caitlin let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. If Wally was able to forgive her…that was good news.

"So, how are we going to bring Barry back without blowing a hole in the world?" Wally asked. "You mentioned something about it before, you know when Iris…" he trailed off, hearing Joe clear his throat in a warning tone. "I mean…uh…yeah, how are we going to bring him back? I don't know about you, but I don't plan on going into that prison anytime soon."

Cisco squeezed Caitlin's hand then backed away from her, going towards the telescope-shaped item underneath a tarp. With a flourish, he whipped it off and lovingly ran his hand over the metal piece. "In the spirit of bringing back old friends, we've got the Speed Force bazooka. I made a few modifications." He nodded toward Caitlin. "And the lovely Ms. Snow and I spent all of last night working out kinks in the quark sphere."

"The what?" Joe blinked rapidly.

"The Quark Sphere," Caitlin supplied. She held out her hands and Cisco went to the nearest van, holding different computers and machines reading off the electromagnetic fields in the area. He picked up what looked like a whiffle ball and tossed it toward Caitlin, who caught it and spun it in her hand. As she explained the qualities of the sphere, it made her smile, getting back into her old rhythm. "Filled with Barry's unique genetic marker, and programmed to track his specific DNA using the electrical current of the Speed Force. Once we track Barry and pull him out, the sphere will trick the speed force into thinking he's still here."

"So…" Joe pointed towards the ball. "That goes in—"

"—And Barry comes out?" Wally concluded.

"If you want to get all crazy with the semantics," Cisco joked. He clapped his hands together and rubbed his palms vigorously. He grinned at Caitlin. "Let's see what this baby can do!"

And Barry _had _come out of the Speed Force. All jumbled and speaking nonsense that they couldn't figure out, but it worked. He was home. The team was back together. Or…should've been backed together. They were there in people, but not in spirit or feelings. That was the part she knew was to be the most difficult, trying to get things back to normal. _How 'normal' is 'normal' when you can't even look your best friend in the eye without wondering if you'd see the one who hates you looking back. _It had been a worry with Iris, of course, she'd reacted incredibly badly when they went around her and decided to take Barry from the Speed Force but…

How could a friendship be mended with the things that happened? How do you come back from begging your best friend to kill you if you managed to turn into…_her? _How do you come back from having the wish granted with a serum inject into her neck with little fanfare? Caitlin still remembered the cold expression on Cadence's face when Caitlin rolled to her back, pressing a hand to the tiny pinprick on her neck, feeling the serum run through her veins.

Nothing could easily come back from that.

Amunet continued to wiggle her finger at Caitlin, this time throwing in some kissing sounds, as if she were calling a dog. Caitlin's nose wrinkled. She may as well be the dog in the scenario, she realized, always coming at Amunet's beck and call. Having no choice but to do as she was told, as she was commanded. Knew the consequences if she didn't. She'd seen Amunet toss—literally—people aside without blinking due to sheer boredom.

Finally, after getting no response from Caitlin, Amunet gave an exaggerated sigh and placed her hands on her hips. She looked toward the ceiling, ignoring the sound of the men being beaten to a pulp in the ring on the other side of the basement of Amunet's hideout. She shook her head, making the braids that encompassed her ponytail sway and dance like snakes charmed by a charmer. "Well, I'll guess I'll have to find the _other _Cadey and see what she's been up to these days—"

"Fine." Caitlin closed her eyes. She sighed through her nose, looking to Amunet out the corner of her eye. Her eyes narrowed at Amunet's smug smile. "What is it you need me to do?"

"Oh, I don't need _you, _Caity. You already know that. Who I need has more of a frosty persona." She put on an expression that was meant to be sympathetic, meant to be apologetic, but only made it so that it looked like she was grimacing. "You know how it is."

Yes, Caitlin knew _exactly_ how it was.

* * *

**A/N: **Finally, some more answers with Lex and now we see what's going on with Caitlin, a bit of a twist from the show. And, let me tell you, I'm having fun showing Tess a bit more this time around. Soon you'll see more of Harrison as well. And it'll show some more of why they're not in STAR Labs. But we've got a cool action sequence coming up in the next chapter!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**DarkHelm145: **Well, it's here! I hope you enjoyed it! And, that's not the last of the Samuroids, I have a lot planned with those as the entire story goes. Lol

**Ethan: **Yes, Connor made the app himself. Used the idea of what they had for Instagram and then changed the configuration for it. Now, whether or not he had help from STAR Labs, well…that's an entirely other thing. Well, you got some interesting questions about the bounty list in this one, maybe it does have to do with Amunet and the Network…?

**Jason Hunter: **Yes, I used Kristin Kreuk from Smallville as the look for Cadence.

**Panther-10: **She'll attack full force. And, yes, Cadence is a hero. Though, you'd also say she's an anti-hero of sorts. Her hero name is Flare.


	11. Mixed Signals

**10**

_Mixed Signals_

* * *

"Okay! Here we go." Iris beamed as she placed three plates onto the table. "Wally, Dad, Barry…" She made sure each of the three men in her life had their food before taking her own plate and sitting down with them. She grinned at the three, who weakly grinned in response. "Okay, dig in! No need to wait."

Barry kept his smile frozen on his face, gazing at the spread before him. At the impossible thick and equally burnt blobs of pancake on his plate that looked to be in the shape of…

"Are…are those lightning bolts?" Wally asked, wiggling his finger toward his plate but studiously avoiding eating it as well. Joe sat across from him, nursing a mug of coffee, gazing at his daughter over the rim of his mug each time he brought it up to take a sip. Or, as Barry was sure, pretended to take a sip.

"Yes!" Iris wiggled excitedly in her chair, then nodded to Barry. "A testament to my best friend's return from the Speed Force _and _his first day back at the CCPD." She lifted her glass of orange juice, prompting Joe and Wally to do the same. "To Barry."

"To Barry," Joe and Wally repeated.

Barry grinned, Iris watched him tentatively. Watched as he took a long sip from his own glass of orange juice and glanced at his plate. He stared at it for a moment, took a breath, then picked up his fork, gently twirling it in his fingertips. He lifted his head, locked eyes with her. Iris gave him an encouraging smile. He smiled back and cut a piece of the pancake, sticking it into his mouth.

Iris raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Mmm," Barry said quickly. He moved the piece to his cheek, bulging it out. "This…you've really improved, Iris."

"Thanks!" Iris grinned and looked to her father and brother. They both blinked back at her before slowly, very slowly getting their own pieces of pancake and sticking it into their mouths with smiles. Iris beamed and reached for her own mug of coffee. Orange juice may be her favorite, but nothing quite got her day going like coffee from Jitters.

Not just because she worked there long enough to know how to make the _best _cup; figuring out the ratio of water to coffee beans to milk and sugar, but due to the sort of comfort it brought her. Jitters was a special place for her; it was where she conceptualized her topic for her dissertation. Where she spent many days of undergrad and grad school working late night shifts in between studying with her friends. Where she and Barry continuously met up for breakfast when he moved out and she was still at home. Where she and Eddie had their first date. Where she saw Barry back from the dead for the first time. Where she met Oliver Queen…

Where _everything _happened.

Barry being back from the Speed Force and not having Jitters coffee was…unimaginable. Almost as unimaginable as it was for Barry to be there, in the flesh, right across from her. She'd seen what he'd had to go through with big bads and world destroying scenarios time and time again, knowing he'd come back. But knowing he went into the Speed Force, left them all without a 'goodbye' was harder than she'd imagined it'd ever be.

The anger gnawed at her for days. During those days, she sat in her apartment, wondering what it was that made Barry decide to make such a foolish decision and not talk to anyone about it. What made it so that he became so impulsive and selfish. Then, she realized, it was all because of his father's death and she felt nothing but sorrow for him. His mother was already dead, he was taunted and hunted by the speedster that killed her, lost his father to another speedster, got struck within his grief and created Flashpoint to try and rid himself of the pain. Came back from Flashpoint and not only had to live with the grief of having lost his family once more, but then having to deal with the consequences of having had created Flashpoint and all the pain coming from that…

Iris shook her head. Barry was a hero in his own way, even before having had his powers. He cared so much more about other people than he did about himself. Somehow, she knew his going into the Speed Force was the same thing. _The city was being destroyed by that lightning, _she reminded herself. But she was still human enough to be angry about his sudden disappearance. Had to grieve it like a death. Like a part of her was missing.

But now that he was back…it was like she was whole again.

"What?"

Iris blinked and looked up at Barry. "What?" she repeated.

"You were staring," Barry pointed out.

Iris grinned. "Sorry, I can't help it." She shook her head. "I know the Speed Force was hard on you but that whole thing…" She waved her hand in a circle around Barry's face, indicating his mustache and beard. "That's not doing anything for you."

Subconsciously, Barry reached up and rubbed at his chin, fingertips creating a scratching sound as they ran over the patches of hair that sprouted on his chin. "Shaving wasn't must of an option in the Speed Force." He shrugged. "'I don't know, I'd thought this would keep the others from calling me Baby Face all the time."

"Believe me, son, _nothing _will keep these guys from calling you Baby Face," Joe remarked. "Just like Jonesy will always be Jonesy and Jordan is always going to be Dolphin."

"Mm?" Barry's eyebrows rose. "Jordan?" He looked around the table. "Who's Jordan?"

"Jordan's the new intern at the CCPD," Wally explained. He waited until Iris wasn't looking to superspeed his pancakes into the napkin in his lap. "She works reception." A large smile worked its way to his face. "Much better looking than the old receptionist."

Iris shoved Wally hard on the shoulder. "Hey, you didn't forget about Jesse, did you? You know she can open up a breach and set you straight whenever she wants."

"Don't remind me," Wally replied, laughing lightly. He nodded toward Barry. "A lot of things have been going on at the CCPD while you've been gone. I mean…they even won the CCPD/CCFD softball game this year."

Iris caught Joe's eye and the two cleared their throats, glaring at Wally, who's eyes widened. Iris then looked to Barry, who seemed oblivious to the light dig as his…less than stellar athletic ability, even as a speedster. But he didn't seem to notice, instead, he watched the three with a light smile on his face. As if seeing them for the first time. Iris smiled back, an encouraging smile for not only him, but herself as well. She quickly changed the subject, just in case Barry started to feel badly about his absence.

She didn't want to add to that.

"So…how come Cadence and Brady didn't come?" She asked.

She'd extended the invitation to all of them, to come to breakfast to celebrate Barry's first day back at the CCPD. It wasn't completely out of the ordinary, she and Cadence and Brady had spent a lot of time together in STAR Labs, long nights, and even longer days, working to keep the city safe while Barry was gone. They, Cisco, and Wally had spent multiple nights on the floor of the Cortex eating takeout and watching movies as they brainstormed how to take down a meta and what to do to increase the difficulty of their training programs.

But she'd thought it'd be different if they actually had breakfast together. Like…a family.

"Cade had to go into work early," Barry explained. "Something came up with a case she's working on. And Brady asked to be taken to school early." He pushed the pancakes aside and started on a plate of sausages. Blowing through them in seconds.

"Oh." Iris nodded.

"But they're sorry they couldn't make it," Barry quickly added.

"Right. Of course." Iris shook her head, smiled. "Things came up. I get it. We'll just see them later at STAR Labs with our next training session." She cleared her throat, flapping open a napkin into her lap. "Or something." She cleared her throat again. Changed the subject once more. "But you must be excited." Barry's eyebrows rose. "With the wedding coming up and everything. Dad and I've still got the save the date and I'm looking around for a plus one."

"At this rate, your plus one is going to be Cisco," Wally teased.

Iris rolled her eyes. "We can't all have inter-Earth relationships. And Cisco's not a bad date! He can dance, he's considerate, he tells a lot of good jokes…and he'd been on enough dates to know how to charm anyone." She laughed along with the others.

Joe made a low humming sound, looking over at Barry, throwing his arm over the back of his seat. He studied the side of Barry's face in a way that Iris knew he was going to ask a question that may bring up a difficult conversation. Nevertheless, Iris saw nothing but love in her father's eyes and couldn't help but smile. No matter what Barry'd gone through, he'd always been there for him. Just as he would for any of the children he came across through his cases at the CCPD.

But Barry wasn't just a case. Wasn't just a kid that Joe would send to child protective services or other family members and move onto the next one so that he didn't become too invested. Barry had been part of his life for so long, through his friendship with Henry and Nora Allen, that he may as well have been his son long before the Reverse-Flash came to their lives.

"I still can't believe you're getting married," Joe mused. He nodded towards Iris. "I always thought it'd be her to get married first." Barry made a face, prompting Joe to hold his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry, Bare, but your interests didn't make it so easy for girls to be interested. I remember the one time you had Becky Cooper over here,"—he broke himself off when Iris let out a low groan, then smiled sheepishly when all eyes turned toward her—"and you were tutoring her about something and…" he started to giggle. "I watched that poor girl's eyes glaze over the longer you went on about polynomials and…whatever else it was you were studying."

Wally burst out into hysterical laughter. "Oh man!"

"Well…she asked me for help!" Barry defended himself, cheeks turning red. Nevertheless, even he was laughing at himself, shrugging. "I was trying to help her. I didn't know she wasn't actually interested in me."

"No one cares about polynomials," Wally said. "That should've been your first clue." He looked to his watch and quickly pushed from the table. "Speaking of which, I have to go. I need to do a patrol of the city before I go to class."

"See you later, Wally," Barry said.

"Yeah, and thanks for breakfast, Iris." Wally surreptitiously turned his back and superspeed the napkin into his pocket. He turned back around and said with a wave, "It was…uh…it was great." He blasted from the living room and out the door in seconds.

"I know you're lying, Wally!" Iris shouted after him. She turned back to Joe and Barry. "It's not _that _bad, right? I followed the recipe this time." Joe and Barry babbled responses for a moment, and Iris shook her head. "Forget it. Talking about the wedding is more exciting. I get it. It wasn't that long ago that Eddie and I…" Iris sucked in a sharp breath, eyebrows coming together at the sudden pang in her heart.

She hadn't thought about Eddie in a long time. A very long time. Almost forced herself not to. But then there were times where it'd suddenly hit her. Where she couldn't quite remember how his voice sounded. Where she couldn't remember how he laughed. Couldn't quite remember the way he'd smile upon seeing her at every point of the day, whether it be when they just woke up or if they were about to go to sleep.

But then someone wouldn't mention his name, or simply just "Thawne" and she'd remember what she didn't have. Within seconds, the pang in her heart changed from hurt to…something that caught her off guard and made her lower her head, biting her lower lip and ask, "But, back to _your _wedding. Have you made any more plans?"

Barry frowned for a second. Then it flashed into a small smile. "Actually, we, uh, we haven't really talked about the wedding since I got back. There hasn't really been much time." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The only thing we did was the save the dates, so…"

Iris's eyes widened. "Barry! Your wedding is in November! Do you know how little time that is?" She shook her head. It was no time at all. She hadn't had gotten past being engaged to Eddie, didn't think about the wedding much herself before he was murdered. But at least she had the chance to look at wedding magazines and websites. If a date was set, then a venue had to be picked. And once the venue was picked, the colors of the wedding had to be decided. And when the colors were decided, it was time to figure out the décor, the dining ware, the table cloths, the flowers, everything.

"I know. But…we didn't know I'd be gone for six months and we already had the date worked out."

"Uh, Iris, you don't need to freak him out about the details before it's anything to freak out about," Joe said, coming to Barry's rescue. "Your mom and I had even less time to come up with a wedding and it went well."

"Yeah, but you weren't inviting half the city," Iris reminded him.

Joe paused. "She's got a point."

"Thanks." Barry made a face.

Iris held up her hands. "Sorry, Bare, I don't mean to freak you out. I just…I guess I'm just a little upset that Cadence and Brady didn't show." She folded her arms and shrugged against the curious glances put her way. "I mean…we haven't spent a lot of time with them. All together. And, when you get married, we'll all be a family, you know?" She shrugged. "I guess…I guess I just want that."

"Hey." Barry reached out his hand and placed it on Iris's. He squeezed it in her hand, making her squeeze his in response. "There's plenty of time for us to be family. Especially now." He didn't have to finish the rest of his sentence. She understood. Especially now meant, _Especially now that I'm back. Especially now that there's nothing stopping me._

Especially now…

_No. _Iris shook her head. That last one was wishful thinking. Was a selfish thought she couldn't even begin to imagine scrawling across her brain like a news headline. Reminding her of something that should've been obvious. That probably _was _obvious to people on the outside looking into the history of her relationship between herself and Barry.

"Well, not _right _now." Joe looked at his watch. "We've got to get going or we're going to be late. And even though I'm sure he expects it, I don't think Captain Singh will be so excited to see you're late on your first day back." Barry nodded and stood as well, his hand sliding from Iris's with troubling ease. Joe looked him up and down. "But you might want to think about shaving your beard, first."

"Yeah, and, uh, do something with your eyebrows," Iris added.

Barry frowned. "Have you been talking to Brady?" He disappeared in a flash of lightning while Joe went to the car.

Iris smiled. She cut a piece of her pancake and bit into it. Cold. Hard. Thick. Crunchy. Not what a pancake should be. "Ugh!" She spat it back onto her plate and looked around at the table, at the plates filled with barely eaten pancakes, and shook her head. "You could've at least said something, guys!"

* * *

The last thing John James expected when walking into his house was to see Cadence sitting on his couch with Karen at her side. Cadence couldn't help the tiny smile that came to her lips, pulling it up at the corners when John paused, hand tightening on the doorknob. He then quickly regained his computer and closed the door behind him with more force than necessary.

Cadence chuckled quietly, folding her arms and crossing her legs at the knee. Leisurely bounced her foot up and down. It was funny, she mused, how quickly men did their best to seem imposing when they were the ones who felt the most vulnerable. It must've been a shock for him, she realized. Considering the last time they'd seen each other, she was in court and working to get the judge to realize how much pain and trauma John had put Frankie through in her time within their case.

"And you're telling me that John James was the one who Frankie mentioned as being the one who hurt her?" The defense attorney asked as Cadence sat on the stand. "The one who caused her enough trauma that she created a split personality to…" the defense attorney examined her notes. "Escape from the pain he'd inflicted upon her."

"That's correct," Cadence agreed, her voice magnified by the microphone in front of her. Her eyes swept the crowd, first landing on Barry and Cisco—feeling a sudden pang in her chest that Caitlin wasn't there—to Brady, who gave her an encouraging smile despite his obvious bewilderment of the situation—to Frankie, who continued to sit slumped in her seat, kicking her legs back and forth.

Cadence had insisted that Frankie only be in the courtroom when her testimony was needed but had quickly been denied. She wasn't a prosecutor, the defense, or part of anyone's legal team. Just a portion of the CCPD who was brought in as a witness. If Frankie were dead, and Cadence were still a Medical Examiner, it'd be easier to have her say…

"But her split personality was the one who attacked John James, is that correct?" Cadence frowned. "She attacked her foster father and sent him to the hospital with life threatening injuries."

"As a means of self-defense," Cadence protested.

"Defense against a man powerless against her metahuman abilities?" The defense attorney started to pace, turning his attention to the jury and to the audience of the court. "Let's just say that your accusations are true. That he's injured Frankie, but is it due punishment for her to attack him in a way he was powerless to defend himself against? Should we allow metahumans to get away with their crimes when they're not of the same caliber as the rest of us?"

"Metahuman or not, she's still a kid!" Cadence spat, unable to keep her temper down. Unable to keep her own thoughts about metahumans to herself. It was harder than she thought, to keep quiet when she herself was being attacked, despite no one knowing. She saw Barry, Cisco, and Brady shift uncomfortably, knowing of their own abilities. "And children need to be protected from people like John! For whatever reason, Frankie decided to confide in me what's been going on with her and I'm glad she's found someone to indulge the information in. Keeping something like this a secret is hard, it's no wonder she's created a split personality. Holding in that much anger…it's never a good thing for anyone. Your brain attempts to create a safe space for you to go so you don't get caught up in the trauma."

"And how are you able to speak on that Miss. Nash?"

"I'd like to think my MD, my experience as a medical examiner, and my experience within Child Protective Services had made it so that I have the training and the means to determine what I see in those I see have been harmed in some way." Cadence pressed her lips together. "Just as I would in my own son, I can see it in other children."

"What do you think John should do, then? The next time he's being attacked by a metahuman, he shouldn't fear for his life?"

"That's not—"

"—So he should keep that child in his home and hope she doesn't become so aggravated that she'll actually kill him?"

"There's no actual danger of a metahuman being inherently evil. It's _people _that are the problem. And John's the worst of them all."

"Miss. Nash, you've, so far, been unable to give a compelling case as to why Frankie is the one in danger against John James, so far it seems that John and Karen are the ones who should be put into protective custody. And I see no point in further questioning you." He stepped back. "The defense rests. I'm finished with this witness."

It still angered Cadence how easily she was cast aside the moment the subject of the case was turned towards metahumans. Part of her was angry at the defense team, part of her was angry at Julian for outing Frankie as a metahuman in the first place, but an even bigger part of her was angry at herself for not being able to help Frankie to put John in prison. Or even in jail.

So, sitting in front of John James in his house, to get the final warning out, was the icing on top of a cake that'd been waiting a long time to be eaten. Cadence's smile wilted just slightly, watching as Karen tightened her grasp on her fingers, shifting nervously under her husband's gaze. _It would've all worked out had Karen not lied under oath. _That was the saving grace Cadence relied on; where Karen would finally out her husband as the abusive monster he was.

But that was the problem with those that had been abused for so long, after a while, they became so dependent on their abusers that they'd continue to stay with those causing them harm, feeling they had no other place to go. Nevertheless, Karen wasn't her target. John was, and she wasn't going to let him forget her presence the next time he decided to even think of Frankie's name.

"What do you want?" John demanded. He didn't move from the doorway, eyeing her suspiciously. But not enough so that he knew to leave the apartment.

"Please sit down," Cadence said. John hesitated for a moment, Cadence nodded towards the dining chair that sat across from the couch she and Karen perched upon. John's upper lip curled. He gritted his teeth. Glanced at the door behind him. Did as he was told. He shuffled towards the chair, high-stepping at a few points. His jerky movements, and means to keep himself upright, made Cadence shake her head.

So early in the morning and he was already drinking? _Or else he's still hungover from the night before. _Karen had said John had been out for most of the night when Cadence arrived at the apartment that morning under the guise of wanting to talk.

Cadence watched as John came closer, his eyes darting around the room, toward the kitchen. She knew he was planning some sort of escape, some way to threaten her. He could do whatever he wanted. Looking in the kitchen he'd see that the knife block had been removed, and there wasn't much to attack her with in the otherwise dilapidated apartment.

_He spends a lot of his money on booze, _Frankie had told her in the silence of the interrogation room once Julian had, finally, left her alone. _Whatever he makes from work…we don't see much of it. Even Karen doesn't know how much money John has, she only sees it when he forces her to go shopping. And even then, it's for food for him._

John came closer, eyes trained on her. Obviously making a move to intimidate her.

"Stop," Cadence commanded.

He ground to a halt, eyeing her with so much disdain Cadence was sure she'd burst into flames if he had the ability to do so. As it was, she was doing her best to keep from sending him into a blazing inferno just from the sheer rage she had against him for making Frankie fear for her life as long and as badly as she had. The hard lines in John's face—wrinkles that were a bit premature for a man of his age—hardened, his glassy eyes taking her in. "What do you want?"

"You have any weapons on you?" Cadence asked.

"No."

"D'you mind if I verify that"

His upper lip curled. "Keep your hands off me, slut."

Had it bene years before, even shortly before having met Barry and the others, that word would've sent her into a tailspin. But being older, really coming into herself, the word merely made her realize how little people knew what to say when trying to be intimidating.

Cadence tilted her head towards Karen. "Do you treat her like that? Makes me wonder how you can stay married. I'm sure your sex lives must be exciting." Her eyes flickered over John. "For you, anyway. To keep everything under your control." Cadence's eyes narrowed. Stared to burn. "But there's one thing you don't seem to understand about control…" she shrugged, standing. "It's not yours to keep. Every once in a while, something you don't expect will take you down."

_The elevator doors opened and the girls went out onto their floor. The second they did so, Cadence sensed something was wrong. Something sinister was around. She knew it was coming, it was the primal sign of danger that everyone got. Whether or not one listened to the feeling made for the fight, flight, or freeze response. And, unfortunately for whomever was causing her discomfort, Cadence was a fighter._

_Her eyes swept back and forth over the faces of the doctors and nurses that passed her. Then, as she approached the receptionist's desk, she spotted John James, the biggest thorn in her side. When he saw her approach, he stopped pacing and demanded, "What are you doing here?"_

_"I was called here," Cadence said calmly. She reached to her hip and produced her badge. "Or did you forget that I was specifically assigned to this case?"_

_John glared at her, red, watery eyes narrowed so tightly she wondered how he was able to see. As she watched, he lightly swayed on the spot, mentally confirming Cadence's suspicion that he was drunk. "This isn't a case! This is my daughter!"_

_Cadence felt her temper flare. And at that exact moment, a stack of papers sitting on the receptionist's desk down the hall burst into flames. The receptionist shrieked and moved to smother the flames as quickly as possible. "Your daughter, if I have my way, will be far away from you." She put her badge back on her hip. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few questions I need to ask her." She took a step forward but John continued to stand in front of her. Cadence tilted her head back and stared hard at him. "Get the fuck out of my way." Her voice took on a low, dangerous tone. "Now."_

_Cadence wouldn't be scared away from the height and weight John clearly had over her. She'd faced too many metahumans for her to be intimidated by a . Then, finally, John stepped out of the way so Cadence could walk by. She went into the hospital room, pushing the door open with a flattened palm._

_A friendly smile came to Cadence's face. "Hey Frankie," Cadence greeted as she walked into the hospital room. Frankie Kane looked up through her bangs, pulling her jacket back over her arms. She fiddled with the gloves that rested over her hands. "Long time no see, huh?" Frankie shrugged and her eyes shifted over to Jesse. "This is my friend, Jesse. Jesse, this is Frankie Kane."_

_"Hi," Frankie said with a wave. Then she brought her hands back to her lap, playing with her fingers. "Um. How are you?"_

_Cadence continued to smile. "As fine as can be, considering the run in I just had with your father—"_

_"—Foster father," she interrupted then bit her lower lip, lowering her gaze._

_Cadence made a sound of agreement. Then she tilted her head to the side, getting another angle of Frankie's face. Of the bruise that seemed to take over the entire right side. No wonder she had been called back in. How many times had she met up with Frankie over the years? Enough so that her suspicions of abuse not being listened to was really starting to piss her off. But there was only so much that could be done when Frankie wouldn't cooperate._

_"Right, right. So, what'd he do this time?" Cadence asked, folding her arms. "Throw you down the stairs? Push you into a wall?"_

_"No." Frankie shook her head._

_"Knock you down?"_

_"No."_

_"Kick you?"_

_"No!" Frankie lifted her head and stared, eyes wide at Cadence. "No, he…he hasn't done anything. I'm just a bit of a klutz."_

_Cadence backed down a little. At least she had her answer. Every time Frankie would deny anything was wrong, her eyes would flicker over towards the door as if expecting her father to barge right in. "I understand that. Part of the reason I got into gymnastics and cheerleading was because I kept falling over all the time."_

_"Really?" Frankie continued to play with her fingers._

_"Really?" Jesse repeated with a laugh._

_"Yep." Cadence nodded. "I couldn't go anywhere or do anything without tripping, falling, or hurting myself in some way. So I did those to get a better sense of balance. Not to mention I loved it since first saw it." Frankie smiled at her. "What about you? Are you into anything? Any sports?"_

_"Not so many sports, I guess," Frankie said. "Field hockey, maybe. But…I really like to draw."_

_"Can't hurt yourself drawing, can you?"_

_"No. Not really. Not except the stray paper cut. Those always hurt."_

_"You're right." Cadence's smile faded. "But it can't hurt as much as a punch to the face." Frankie's smile faded. "I've had a few of those myself. I'd recognize the swelling and bruise pattern anywhere." Frankie ducked her head. "Frankie…" Cadence rested her hands on the end of the examining table and leaned towards the young teen. She waited until Frankie lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. Tears brimmed her lashes and her breath shook. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on. And I really want to help you."_

_Frankie looked back at Cadence and for a long moment it was like she zoned out, was anywhere but in the moment._

_"Frankie?" Jesse asked after a minute._

_She continued to stare._

_Cadence frowned. "Frankie?" She repeated._

_Frankie blinked and her eyes came back into focus. She pulled her sleeves down to meet the ends of her gloves. "Nothing's going on," she said in a low murmur. "I'm fine. Can I go now?"_

_Cadence nodded and backed away, so Frankie had some space. Frankie jumped down from the examining table and left the hospital room, immediately swept up by her father._

_Foster father__, __Cadence corrected herself._

John's punch came without premeditation. He swung. Cadence sidestepped it with ease and laughed. "Sorry, looks like I touched a nerve."

"What do you want?" John growled, lifting an arm to wipe away the beads of sweat that suddenly appeared on his forehead.

Cadence narrowed her eyes. They burned. Not the same kind of burn of restless nights with a screaming infant who had no other ways to communicate his discomfort. But the burn of her fire powers slowly but surely kicking in. "Sit down, please." This time he did as he was told, wiping his forehead once more. Karen shifted, pulling at the collar of her blouse buttoned to her neck, unable to hide the purple splotch that made its way to her jaw.

John sat facing Karen. Her normally pale face seemed to be void of any color and she was breathing in short, audible pants. Worried. Afraid. Her eyes flicked from Cadence's, down to the left, as if she were trying to find some sort of escape from her captors. A man who'd abused her for most of her relationship and the woman who may or may not be helping her.

"Get comfortable." Cadence motioned to the coffee table where glasses had been set out, a single bottle in the center of the table. "Have a drink if you'd like. Pick your poison."

John regarded her carefully. "What's in it?"

"Nothing. Whiskey."

He snorted. Sweat dripped from his chin. "What do you know about whiskey?"

"You really are a piece of work." Cadence shook her head. "How long did it take for you to convince Karen you were such a nice guy?" She sat up, tapping her fingertip into the table, leaving scorch marks with each tap. "How long did it take for you to convince her that to be happy you needed children? Just so you could exert your power over them, too." John scowled. Cadence "You can drink." She nodded to Karen. "You too, it's okay."

Karen was shaking as she took the glass in front of her. The whiskey spilled and dripped down the backs of her fingers. They all took a drink.

"What…the fuck…do you want?" John demanded. Breaths coming out more and more labored.

"Since you asked so nicely, I wanted to give you an update on Frankie. You know, your foster daughter." Cadence leaned back in her seat. "I don't know if you know, we're still in contact once I finally had the time to return her calls. Good news. Frankie's pretty well adjusted now with her new foster family." Cadence clenched her hand into a fist. "I still can't get over how you managed to hurt her so badly over the years." She crossed her arms. "Not to mention, that you were granted to have another foster child." She nodded to the toys sitting by the front door that John had stepped over as he came into the apartment. "You see, I couldn't sit back and let that happen." She tipped her head toward Karen. "Especially not when your wife let's you get away with all the pain you've caused your foster kids and herself." She looked toward the woman who sat quietly next to her, hands clasped in her lap, eyes darting towards John.

John clenched his hands at his sides. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to turn yourself in. Bar that, because I don't think you'll do that so easily, I want you to admit you have a problem."

"I don't have a drinking problem," he snarled.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how much you like little kids. As much as you like to beat them up…you use that to hide what it is you're really doing to them. So tell me, tell the truth." Cadence leaned forward. "When did you start touching Frankie?" She smiled at John's wide-eyed gaze. "Don't like that I know that?"

"Don't care. It's not true."

"Try again."

"Fuck you!"

"Do you understand how imperative it is for us to be honest with each other?" Darkness slowly started to swirl around them, filling the room in a haze. Cadence's eyes, now taking on an orange glow, was the only thing that shone through the darkness, giving her a demonic look. "How badly this might end if you make one bad decision? To lie?"

"Sure."

"Then let's try again. When did you start touching Frankie?" he stayed quiet. "Okay." Cadence licked her lips. "How long did your wife know." She turned her gaze to the woman beside her, who flinched and backed away. "How long, Karen, did you let him get away with it?"

"I never touched her!" John spat.

"But you just beat her. That's convincing." Karen started to say something, but Cadence held up a hand. "Karen? I've still got the floor."

John leapt to his feet. Coughed. "This is stupid. You won't trick anyone. You want police to believe we got drunk and passed out!" He gestured toward the glasses on the table. "You'll get caught."

"Is that what you think?"

He coughed again. "It's what I know."

"Getting tired?"

"No."

Cadence stood to stretch. Things were moving a bit slower than she'd liked. As she did so, John grabbed the neck of the whiskey bottle. He swung it up in one continuous motion, aiming for her face. He moved well despite the fogginess in his brain. Sure it'd work.

Her speed was incredible.

Where her head offered a clear shot, nothing but air waited. She pivoted and leapt in a fluid motion, avoiding the contact but maintaining balance. She pointed the gun at John's face. "You're faster than I thought," she remarked.

She hadn't expected Karen to move. Let alone attack her. Expected Karen to see the error in her ways and leave her husband. But, no, she defended him. Somehow, someway, she loved him. So much so she leapt into Cadence's side. It was unfortunate for Karen that Cadence had enhanced strength as part of her abilities. Karen bounced off her as if running into a wall and fell.

Cadence looked down at Karen with pity. "You two deserve each other," she said sadly. With that, she lifted a hand and let smoke fill the room. John and Karen moved to the floor, coughing as the smoke continued to fill the room. It wrapped around her, making her appear demonic as she stood over the two. Then she knelt towards John and placed a hand on his wrist, made sure not to curl her fingers around his arm.

Burned him.

He threw his head back and screamed.

She leaned toward him. "Touch anyone again, _hurt _anyone again, and I'll haunt even worse than this. I'll make this burn feel like a bee sting compared to what I'll do to you." She removed her hand and stood back, waiting patiently as the whiskey finally took their hold and knocked John and Karen out, then she removed the smoke that filled the apartment.

Cadence left the apartment as she had arrived, teleporting out of sight from anyone who'd come by. Cameras didn't worry her, with how much he spent on booze there weren't many upscale places they could afford. _And you haven't been caught before, how would you get caught now? _She thought, glancing at her watch.

Finished in enough time to get to work.

"Speak of the devil," she murmured, phone ringing. She watched Barry's name flash across the screen and quickly answered. "Were you late again?" She teased, mood immediately flipping. "First day back and you're late."

"Have you been talking to Captain Singh?" Barry asked.

"No, I haven't seen him yet today. I'm on my way back from a case."

"That's why I called you." Cadence paused, looking around as if to find Barry streaking toward her, ready to take her back to the CCPD or wherever else they needed to go. "I'm on a case, too. At the Hillside Apartments." Cadence blinked. The Hillside apartments were the most upscale penthouses in the city, to the point that even she would've barely looked at the rent before buying it. But utmost swank had been more Oliver's thing than anyone else's. "Yeah, it surprised me, too. People here tend to keep to themselves."

"That's because their noses are so far in the air they can't see anything below them," Cadence replied. "You were brought on there?"

"Captain Singh and Joe met me here. Apparently, something happened last night. A murder. It doesn't look too good. Something with the elevator malfunctioned and it made a mess of the guy inside."

"Okay." Cadence waited for him to continue. "What does that have to do with me?" He knew she worked in a different part of the CCPD and while there were times that with her previous experience as Medical Examiner would bring her in to help certain cases, if the person was _that _messed up, there wasn't much to examine into the person's death. It was more of Cisco's area of expertise.

"It doesn't…" Barry took a deep breath. "It has to do with your mom."

* * *

**A/N: **And now Iris's POV. I haven't shown it since Flash Fire, but, then again, I haven't had needed her as big of a character since Flash Fire, so there's that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As I said on Twitter and Tumblr you may hate, agree with, be confused by, or be in the middle of how you feel about Cade in this chapter. But, she's changed in the six months that Barry's been away as well. She still has the fundamental qualities of Cade but some things are different. Whether that was her own choice or something else…?

Also, sorry, but had to push my action sequence back one chapter!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	12. Mounting Tensions

**11**

_Mounting Tensions_

* * *

**A/N: **This is the start of where I contemplate moving the rating up to M. There's gore in this chapter as well as in other parts of the story.

* * *

"Barry, the next time you say my mom has anything to do with a recent death, could you _please _tell me that she's fine, first," Cadence said, receiving a sheepish smile from Barry in response to her badgering. "Mom, stop!" She swatted her hand toward her mother, who hovered beside her, smoothing the flyaway hairs that had been knocked out of place with her sudden teleportation back in place.

Maya Nash lowered her hands. "I'm sorry! But you're at work, you need to look presentable. What could've made you look so unprepared so quickly?" She looked to Barry, who looked back at her with a smile, and matched it with one of her own. "_Ohh_. Nevermind."

"Mom." Cadence briefly closed her eyes, shaking her head as Barry blushed at the implication. "I was working on another case this morning."

"I thought you were having breakfast with Mallory?"

"That, too."

Cadence saw and ignored Barry's confused glance. It wasn't an important conversation to have, not compared to the bloody mess that was the elevator roped off in the lobby of the apartment complex. "What's going on? And what does this have to do with my mom as you scared me with this morning?"

"That's what we were just about to debrief on," Captain Singh said, walking over. He looked to Barry and pressed his lips together, holding his arms in front of him. "Mr. Allen! Only six months and twenty minutes late."

"Sorry Captain," Barry quickly apologized, moving to attention. He quickly stepped toward his boss, throwing a glance toward Joe, who stood aside, grimacing lightly. First day back and he was already late? Who thought that wasn't coming? "B-but thanks for the extended sabbatical," he added quickly. "It really helped."

"It better have been worth it," Captain Singh said, a warning tone coming to his voice. He turned to Joe and nodded. "So, what have we got?"

Joe motioned toward the elevator and the group walked toward it. Cadence grimaced, studying the elevator as they moved closer. She'd seen a lot of things while working as a Medical Examiner, not only that, but from having studied medicine for many years, there had been enough bodies that she'd done autopsies on, or watched her professors for practice. That was nothing compared to the carnage that laid out before them. Her upper lip curled, watching blood and chunks of gore continued to fall from the ceiling of the broken-down elevator.

"Not much to go off of," Joe said with a heavy sigh as they walked over. "The only witness was an elderly resident, and she's still pretty rattled."

Maya immediately quit walking, pressing a hand to her chest. "I beg your pardon!" She cried. "I'm not elderly. And I'm not a resident." She paused. "Not yet, anyway."

Joe gave her a funny looked. Cadence rolled her eyes, slapping her forehead. "I'm sorry, Ms. Nash, I was referring to…" he motioned to the side where and elderly woman stood, holding onto a small, white, yappy dog that eyed them with a glare.

"Oh." A flush came to Maya's cheeks. "Never mind, then."

"But you are a part of this, Ms. Nash. You _were _the last person to see the victim alive," Joe added. He addressed the group. "'I hope you all don't have weak stomachs."

Barry came to a stop, eyes widening as he got a good look at the elevator. "Whoa, he's everywhere," he blurted out, unable to stop the rapid fire connection of his brain to his mouth.

Joe nodded grimly, standing aside so everyone could get a good look at the grisly display. "Dropped him 100 stories."

"Did you ID the vic?" Captain Singh asked.

"Yeah, Kurt Williams," Joe said, regarding the notebook in his hands. "Worth billions."

"Hundreds of billions, actually," Maya spoke up. She hitched her purse up her shoulder, shaking her head. "He was a tech giant, imported a lot of the technology he's created into Metropolis and, singlehandedly, brought up the economy there. It doesn't surprise me he can afford a place like this. _And i_n cash!"

Captain Singh ignored her, but not after a moment where he gave her a look that was almost indistinguishable. There weren't many changes in his facial expressions when he was at work, Cadence realized shortly after meeting him. He appeared annoyed as much as he was listening to you. He needed answers fast and made sure to get the information he needed with as long as he was to stand there talking to you.

"What do you think, Allen?" Captain Singh asked, clearing his throat lightly.

It took Barry a second to shake himself from what he was seeing to snap into CSI mode. Honestly, Cadence was a little worried as to how easily he would just back into work mode. He seemed to adjust coming back from the Speed Force easily, but there was a difference between taking the time between his return and the Flash's return, all with confidence and fanfare. If there was anyone who could rattle Barry, it was Captain Singh. And while Barry was excited to get back to work, he certainly wasn't excited to have to impress his boss all over again.

Who else would've taken their lie of Barry needing to be on a six-month sabbatical at face value from his fiancé rather than from the person leaving themselves? But Captain Singh had looked at her for a long moment, looked out the window of his office to the damage that the lightning storm had created—and was being repaired—and looked at her again. Looked at her in a way that made her nervous, there was a knowing flash in his eye, as if he, somehow, knew where it was Barry truly had gone.

Nevertheless, he approved it with a quiet, "Better be worth it," before motioning her to leave the apartment.

In that moment, Barry's face changed. Taking on a serious expression as he snapped on some gloves from his kit and knelt to closely examine the elevator. Cadence's nose wrinkled. Even from where she stood, the smell of blood was overpowering. She had a cast iron stomach after years of changing diapers and cleaning up projectile vomit—not just from when Brady was a baby, but from her hospital rounds as well—but knew it couldn't be said for everyone. Even for those who were used to the job had their breaking point.

Barry reached out a hand, curling his fingers around the side of the elevator frame to hold himself upright as he peered closer inside, careful not to contaminate the crime scene. He picked up a mini-flashlight from his kit and waved it around the cavern. He sighed under his breath. "You see the impacts on the ceiling?" He asked to the group, who all nodded silently. "And the repeated lateral stress fissures on the on the frame?" He motioned to the walls of the elevator. "He wasn't dropped, he was shaken to death."

Cadence grimaced at the truth. Shaken to death. A horrific way to go. When one was shaken to death, much like shaken baby syndrome, it was the brain that suffered the most damage and caused death. It was mostly seen in children and infants, known as Shaken Baby Syndrome, though also known as Abusive Head Trauma. The trauma created anything from brain swelling to seizures, visual impairment, cerebra palsy, and cognitive impairment. She'd seen more than enough young victims of Abusive Head Trauma, but had _never _seen someone legitimately shaken to death.

"The elevator malfunctioned to drop and rise between floors?" Captain Sing asked. Despite his composure, his face had turned ashen, and he swallowed hard. Turning away to cover his mouth as he did so. When he finally regained his composure, he forced himself to ask, "Is that even possible?"

Barry stood, snapping off his gloves. "Well…" he trailed off, looking toward Cadence. She raised her eyebrows and he nodded. Cadence nodded back, immediately understanding. It wasn't completely impossible, but…

"Excuse me, coming through!" Cisco's loud voice wafted through the spacious lobby of the apartment complex. Cadence smiled. _Speak of the Devil, _she thought. If anyone could figure out what was going on with a malfunctioning elevator, it was Cisco. She looked over her shoulder and watched as he pushed his way through the gathering crowd and toward the group. He picked up the lapel of his jacket and flashed it to the police officers that tried to stop him. "CCPS Tech Consultant. I've got the badge, its official!"

Captain Singh shook his head. "He _does _know that the badge is plastic, right?"

Cadence grinned and shook her head. "That means absolutely nothing to Cisco. He was just excited to get the badge in the first place."

"Oh, I know." Captain Singh wiggled a finger in his ear. "I'm still trying to regain hearing in this ear from his excited squealing."

Finally, Cisco reached the group and grinned at each person, quickly apologizing for his tardiness for the day. "The curls just weren't cooperating and—" his eyes widened, landing on the elevator in front of him. He brought up a hand, using it to cover his vision of the elevator. "Oh, good Lord! _Why _would you show me that?"

Joe glared at him, making Cisco immediately drop his hand and roll his shoulders back, adopting a look as if he'd seen it all before. "We think it's a weird technical glitch and you're our technical expert so…" He gestured toward the elevator once more, willing himself to look away.

"Yeah, yeah…I get it." Cisco reached out his hand, snapping his fingers towards Barry. "A mask, please." Barry dug around in his kit and pulled out a mask. Cisco quickly brought it up to cover his mouth. Cisco then paused and looked at his best friend, eyeing him in the silence. "'Hello! I can't touch this stuff, either!"

"Just get on with it, Mr. Ramon," Captain Singh warned.

Cisco snapped his fingers and pointed to Captain Singh before heading forward. He whipped what looked like a USB drive from his pocket and stuck it into a small portion of intact wall, being careful not to touch the bloody mess. Once it was in place, Cisco whipped out a tablet and swiped his fingers over it to pull up a program he looked through. A hum escaped his lips and he pointed to the screen before turning it around to show purple and gray code scrambling across the screen. "That shouldn't be there."

"I know there's a lot of things I don't understand about…" Joe waved his hand around. "Science and technology, but that's even more confusing than _anything _I've seen before."

"It's an encrypted code," Cisco explained. "The problem with this elevator that turned this guy into paste and _seriously _turned me off sriracha wasn't a glitch in the elevator's program. This is the work of a hacker."

"A hacker?" Maya repeated, nose wrinkling.

"Why would someone want to hack an elevator?" Cadence asked. "Let alone one in a place like this? There's so many rich people here that the litigation the place would be stuck in would be passed down to the occupants' great-great grandchildren."

"I'm not sure." Cisco pulled the thumb drive from the wall of the elevator and put it into an evidence bag, making a scene of not touching it directly and throwing the soiled gloves inside. "But there's an algorithm I can run that should decrypt this code in no time." He looked to Cadence, who nodded.

That code would be used in the Cortex. There was no program stronger that would decrypt it as easily. Even if Captain Singh wanted him to use the CCPDs' stuff, he would at least put the Cortex to good use in his own time.

"In the meantime, we'll ask around to see if anyone else saw or heard anything," Joe said. He looked to Captain Singh, nodded, and the two broke off toward the lobby of the apartment complex where the elderly woman with her dog had been ushered to, talking to some officers.

Cadence and Barry both turned to Maya at the same time. She frowned, looking over the carnage, the first time that Cadence could remember her mother ever being so unflappable. "'Was I really the last one to see him alive?" Her voice was soft.

"That's what we want to find out," Barry said gently. "What were you doing here?"

"I was shadowing a real estate agent I used to use in Metropolis," Maya explained. She hitched her purse higher up her shoulder. "I didn't know she was here in Central City but we got to talking and she said that I could come along with this listing to see how it was done—"

"—Get to the point, mom," Cadence interrupted.

Maya looked at her daughter, a little offended. "Well, I'm going to need a place to stay while I'm out here. I can't keep staying with you and Barry. Not when you're about to be a married couple." She held up a hand. "There are certain things a mother doesn't need to know about."

_That's never stopped you before, _Cadence thought with a wry smile.

Barry cleared his throat and brought the conversation topic back. "So what did you see?"

"Well, Kurt was on his phone the whole time he was being shown the place. And it's a nice place. Top floor penthouse. Anyone with that sort of cash you'd think would at least look at everything. But, no, he was on his phone, said he was going to pay in cash, and then went straight to the elevator. I talked to him a little bit as I waited for my friend."

"And what did you talk about?" Barry pressed.

"Nothing really." Maya shrugged. "I just mentioned that he might want to think about upgrading some of the fixtures and he said he wasn't worried about that, but that he was worried more about upgrading the security." Her eyes shifted back and forth over Cadence's and Barry's faces. "Is that weird? Is there something there that can help you?

Barry's eyebrows lowered. "That's not so weird. Anyone who moves into a new place would want to have their security systems changed; locks, alarm codes…it'd be too easy for the former resident to break in if things were the same. Or…" he bobbed his head. "He may be a bit paranoid over his safety."

"If he's worth that much money, it wouldn't surprise me," Cadence agreed. She motioned to her mother. "We knew a lot of people in Metropolis that practically turned their homes into fortresses because they were so afraid something would happen to them and their children."

"Should I be worried?" Maya asked, eyes growing wide. "For, I don't know, warning him last minute or something?"

"No, no, Maya, you shouldn't be worried," Barry reassured her. "You're not the target here, that's very clear. And…" he looked to Cadence before lowering his voice. "If this has anything to do with a metahuman and not anything else that Cisco can find out, it's nothing else that we can't handle."

"Okay, good." Almost immediately, Maya was back to her bubbly self. "I think I'm going to go and let you do your thing. But we should have dinner together, soon, alright."

"Alright." Cadence scratched behind her ear. "Bye, mom." She waited until her mother left before turning her attention to Barry, who laughed quietly. Cadence reached out and punched him on the arm. "It's not funny," she said.

"It's a little funny," Barry replied, still chuckling. "Okay, it's not _that _funny but…hey, she's trying." He brought up a hand to rest on her shoulder, gently rubbing his thumb over her clavicle. "And she might be able to help us with this case. There might be some sort of a clue with what she already knows about him."

"Yeah, maybe," Cadence agreed. She looked in the direction that her mother went, eyebrows coming together. "I don't like it, though. I want her to be safe."

"As long as we're looking out for her, she _is _safe," Barry reassured her. "You know we can be there in, like—"

"—a Flash?"

"I was going to say a second, but okay." Barry chuckled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "If it helps, I'll ask Captain Singh if we can give her protective custody or something? Or maybe I'll run her back to Metropolis to make sure that she's as far away from all of this as possible."

Cadence smiled. "I'm sure she'd like that escort."

"Hey, I can't help it if she likes me better than you."

"Oh, really?" Cadence laughed, folding her arms over her chest and gave him a pointed look. "Who's getting married again?" Barry laughed along with her. "I mean, I always knew my mom had a thing for you but geez, should I hand over my engagement ring?"

"Not on your life." Barry picked up her left hand, gently turning it this way and that so that the diamond sparkled in the life. "I don't want you to take this off again." He lifted his gaze to her and Cadence grimaced, remember how much hurt filled his eyes the first time she'd said no to his proposal. It was all for good reasons, but it still haunted her how badly he had taken it. And how badly they'd argued over it later, when trapped in the Pipeline in the middle of a confrontation with Music Meister. Then his eyebrows came together. "But we missed you at breakfast this morning. Iris was disappointed that you and Brady didn't come."

"I told you, I had a case to work."

"But you had breakfast with…" Barry trailed off. Looked at her meaningfully.

Cadence lowered her gaze. She had a feeling the conversation was going to turn that way, no matter how much she avoided it. It was an elephant in the room, no matter who she was around. Him or Iris.

Shortly after Barry had returned, Iris had come up to her and asked, "How'd you do it?" Cadence had looked at her, eye narrowing in confusion. Iris sighed quietly, leaning against the computer bench and looked her in the eye. "How'd you keep faith of Barry coming back?"

And Cadence had shaken her head for a moment, smiled a little and said, "For the same reason you couldn't," she said. Iris's eyes had narrowed as well, but she didn't move from her position. "I mean…you couldn't keep yourself to think that Barry was coming back because he'd been in the Speed Force, someplace that the rest of us had never been to. We don't know what he saw or whether or not he was coming back. As far as we knew, he was dead. You prepared yourself for that, that he was dead. So, you couldn't keep much thought that he was coming back. I thought he was dead, too, but it was that thought that kept me moving forward to keep my hope that he was alive. But I couldn't live with myself if I couldn't do that."

Looking back on it, Cadence realized how much of Barry's absence had affected her. In more ways that she had realized, having him back now. Why did she keep it quiet about having breakfast with Mallory? Why did she not come out and say that she and Iris had had problems with their approaches to dealing with Barry's absence, especially in the last few days leading toward his return?

Why was she still acting like she was still in the Assassination Bureau?

"Mallory?" Cadence prompted. "Yeah, we had it planned for a while." She ran a hand through her hair. "But we had to cut it short, anyway, cause something came up." That was the truth. She had to cut it short once she got information that John and Karen were going to be at their house and she could confront them about what she'd recently found out about Frankie's abuse. "Anyway, I have to get back to CCPD, it looks like you've got your hands full here."

"Okay, but—" Barry tightened his grasp on her hand before she could leave. "Can we talk later? I just…I have the feeling that there's something wrong…"

Cadence nodded, agreeing to the talk and agreeing that something had gone wrong.

A lot had gone wrong.

He went into the Speed Force and nothing was the same, even when he came back.

* * *

Brady rested his chin in his hand, listening as his history teacher, Mr. McCormick finish up the lesson for the day. Finishing up a section of World War I and the economic fallout from the destruction as well as the restoration progress made in the years after. "We've had a good time talking about World War I, and now we're going to spend the rest of the year, up until Christmas, on World War II." Mr. McCormick folded his arms, pressing his hands into his armpits as he leaned against his deck. "So one of the questions I want you all to be able to answer are questions like, 'Why, after the costs of World War I, was it decided there'd be a second world war?' 'Why were the civilian costs of World War II so much higher than World War I?' 'Why were the allies victorious?'"

He looked around the room, taking in the silent stares of his students back to him. "What can you all tell me about World War II. Hitler, aside?"

Hands went into the air.

Mr. McCormick called on multiple students around the room and they explained everything they knew; "All the men went to ware and the women worked."

"Germany was the big bad of the war."

"Germany took over Europe."

"America helped them win the war."

"The Jews were targeted by Hitler."

Mr. McCormick pointed to Conner and said, "It wasn't just the Jews that were targeted by Hitler, contrary to popular belief," he explained. "There were a lot of different people who were targeted. The problem was, that Hitler wanted German to be an Aryan nation. And by that, I mean he wanted Germany to be perfect. He thought that the only ones who deserved to live in Germany were the ones who were blonde haired, blue eyed, and pale skin were those that had the most pure blood. He deemed Non-Aryans to be impure and even evil. He believed that Aryan superiority was being threatened, particularly by the Jews." He looked around the room. "So, considering today's political climate and is now know, socially, as what is a every day normal for us, I'm sure some of you are thinking about metahumans, am I right?"

Brady perked up. He nodded along with the others. History class was probably his most favorite class, when he didn't have to sit and have everything droned to him on a daily basis. If things were made to be more interesting, instead of having to regurgitate facts would at least keep him semi-interested. Anything that directly had to do with him kept him interested. He should've seen it coming, if he were honest.

Almost every class, every conversation in the halls had to do with metahumans and what was going to happen with them. It was unavoidable and now it was something that had to be spoke about. But how many times would they get into the same argument about it. Some of them were fine with metahumans being around. Others thought they were dangerous. Brady didn't know what was their honest response, more than it being things they were parroting form their parents.

Every now and then he found himself saying things that his mother would say, naïve about what truly was going on.

"So let me ask you this question," Mr. McCormick said slowly. His eyes swept over the classroom. "Would you do anything to make sure your friends, your family were safe? Anything at all? Even if that meant to cheat the system in ways you may not see fit?"

Brady nodded along with his classmates. Some, he saw, saw sat quietly. Even when he didn't have his powers, he did his best to get to his mom and save her when she was being attacked by the Assassination Bureau.

_Brady held his hands over his mouth as he heard the commotion from the living room. As soon as the front door to the apartment had opened he woke up, wondering who it was, fear immediately causing him to hover by the doorway of the room. Hearing Barry's voice he relaxed, listening to their conversation, listening carefully just in case. It was when he heard the door to the apartment blast open once more, and then his mother's started voice and he did as he was always instructed to do._

_Barricade himself under the bed._

_As long as there were pillows and blankets under the bed that hid him from sight, making it appear that the person that slept in the bed consistently dropped their covers and were too lazy to pick them up, he'd be safe. So he sat there, eyes squeezed shut, listening to the sounds of conversation and raised voices. The voices were indistinguishable behind the blankets and pillows lined up around him._

_Then everything was quiet._

_Brady sucked in a breath and held it as he waited for someone to come to the room. For footsteps to creep closer; looking for him. But the apartment continued to stay quiet. Then he heard the footsteps move to the front of the apartment and he shifted back even further until his feet hit the wall behind him._

_Were they coming for him next?_

_They had to have known he was there. Brady didn't dare move until he was sure whoever was in the apartment was gone. Five minutes going by until he let out his breath, then slowly crawled out from underneath the bed. One he was on his feet, he jammed on his shoes and hurried out to the front of the apartment. The front door was wide open and despite the mark in the wall where Barry's body had collided after Harley's mallet had hit him, there was no other indication there was anyone in the apartment._

_"Mom?" Brady asked quietly, just to be sure._

_He got no answer in reply and frowned, turning back to his quiet apartment. What was he going to do now? Get to STAR Labs and tell Dr. Wells. He went back to the bedroom and flipped the mattress up, taking away a few of the bills that rested on top of the pile, before lowering the mattress once more. He paused, eyebrows furrowing together as realization hit him. They had specifically been targeting Barry and his mother if they hadn't looked for the money._

_Brady quickly turned on his heels and blasted out the front door, only coming to a stop when he noticed a tall, dark-skinned man standing at the end of the hallway, staring at him. It appeared that he was waiting for Brady as he slowly pushed himself off of the wall as soon as the young boy came into view. Now, Brady wasn't surprised to find someone strange standing near his apartment, it being in a rundown part of the city had lots of homeless people coming in for shelter when the nights got cold, and he had been warned that there were drug addicts around._

_Not that he really understood what that meant._

_"Hello?" He called warily._

_"Hello," the man replied. Something in his voice was sinister, causing Brady to take a step back. The man smiled at Brady and pushed himself off of the wall. It was then that Brady saw what looked like tiger claws coming off of the man's hands. As soon as he spotted the claws, eyes dropping down to the end then back up to the man's face, Brady pressed his lips together in determination before turning on his heel and running down the hallway._

_The man raced along behind him, footsteps echoing loudly through the hallway was they went. Reaching the door at the end of the hall, Brady pushed against the bar that ran horizontally along the face of the door and crouched through the small hole that was made. He screamed as the man behind him let out a snarl and shot down his hand, the claws scraping along the metal. Ducking low as the man reached out to claw him; Brady stuck out a foot and tripped the man before kicking him in the shin so that he fell into the wall opposing him._

_"I'm going to get you, you brat!" The man growled, getting up to his knees._

_"Not if you can't catch me!" Brady shot back, racing down the stairs as quickly as he could. Rounding the landing of the stairs, he started down another flight when the man leapt from above; landing not he steps in front of him in a couch. "What's your name? What do you want with my Mom?"_

_"They call me Bronze Tiger," he said. "And she's our ticket to taking over this city." Spinning on his heel, he aimed a kick towards Brady's head but the young boy quickly ducked out of the way. Grabbing onto the railing beside him, Brady brought himself up and swung his feet forward, kicking Bronze Tiger in the side before he dropped back down to his feet and shot his right foot upwards and kicked him between the legs. That didn't appear to have any effect on the tall man for he continued his momentum around. Brady then leaned to the side, grabbing onto to the railing and swung his legs over it, sliding down the rail to the bottom landing as Bronze Tiger swung his arm around and slashed down with his claws. The claws went right through the railing where Brady's head was seconds before he continued sliding down the railing._

_Once his feet reached the ground, Brady raced down the rest of the stairs and blasted through the door, out into the alleyway beside him. He ran back down the alley before taking a right turn, running the long way around the run down building next door and heading out onto the street. Trying to catch his breath, he looked back and forth across the street before hurrying across and continuing to run._

_He continued to run, breezing through the run down parts of the city, noticing that the buildings continued to increase in quality as he ran through the city until he reached the Central City Plaza. There he skidded to a stop and twisted around in a few circles, frowning. He remembered it for the most part, having gone through there numerous times when walking to and from the workout center that his mother taught Zumba classes in. Still, what was the best option for him to get out of the area if Bronze Tiger were still following him? There wasn't anyone around that was going to help him; no one had even seemed to notice he was out there on his own being chased by a madman._

_Get to STAR Labs. __Brady raced across the street, ignoring the honking of cars that came from all sides and hurried over to the bus stop when he saw a bus waiting to pick up passengers. Brady quickly climbed onto the bus and fished around in his pocket for some change._

_"Does this bus go to STAR Labs?" He asked the driver as she pulled away from the curb._

_The bus driver looked at him as if he were crazy. "No buses go to STAR Labs! That place had been condemned ever since the particle accelerator explosion. Why in the world would you want to go there? And why are you out here so late? Don't your parents know where you are?"_

_"Yes, I'm meeting my Mom there," Brady lied. "Can you take me to the closest bus stop to STAR Labs? Please?"_

_The bus driver alternatively looked back and forth from the road to Brady before she nodded and motioned for him to take a seat. Brady smiled before dropping down into a window seat and watched as Central City whizzed by. He was so engrossed in watching for Bronze Tiger that he didn't notice the bus driver's eyes steadily on him as she continued along her route and dropped off passengers, picking up others as she went along. Finally, she reached the stop that was the closest to STAR Labs and Brady hurried off before she could stop him._

_And as he continued to run down the street, the bus driver pulled away from the curb before taking her walkie-talkie and calling the police._

_Brady slowed to a stop outside of STAR Labs, eyes shifting as he tried to remember how to get inside. Most other times his mother would have teleported them inside, once they had followed Barry, but now he wasn't sure. Chewing his lower lip, he slid through a hole in the fence that surrounded the building before walking inside the condemned area. Tilting his head back, he looked up and studied the holes and blast sites that the explosion of the Particle Accelerator had created._

_He remembered that day only that he was awakened by a loud explosion sound and scrambled to his knees on the bed, pulling back the curtain and looking out the window. He had watched in awe as the pillar of light shone straight up into the sky, illuminating the area around them. Then there was another loud sound and the lights had suddenly gone off in the apartment simultaneous with a feeling that he had just been punched in the stomach. He was sitting back on the bed when Cadence had come through the door of the bedroom and climbed onto the bed next to him._

_"What was that, Momma?" He asked her._

_"I have no idea." Kneeling, Cadence looked out the window as well, watching as the light started to fade. Sirens from the city wailed in the distance, some closer than others, coming from the cars that were parked around the apartment. But there hadn't appeared to be any sort of danger coming towards them. "But it was pretty loud, huh?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Cadence smiled and rolled off the bed. "Go back to sleep, bud. I'll be back in a few minutes."_

_"Okay," Brady replied and slid back into the bed, pulling the covers up over his shoulder._

_How was he to know that it was what would bring him and his mother into something as big as this. He always knew that his mother was special due to the powers she had, but to know there were others that could do the same, he didn't believe would ever happen. And now here he was, trying to break into STAR Labs so that the Flash could be saved. Brady finally found an open door and slipped inside, making his way to the main floor of the building. He raced into the room, causing Dr. Wells, Caitlin, Diggle, Roy, Felicity, and Oliver to turn towards him, looking at him in confusion._

_"Brady, is everything alright?" Caitlin asked._

_"They have my Mom!" He blurted out. "And Barry! They broke into my apartment and took them!"_

Everyone would've done the same, he reasoned. If they were given the utmost chance to help the people they cared about. _Who wouldn't want to take it? _Nevertheless, he listened as Mr. McCormick added.

"Okay, so say everyone who's a metahuman has that ability? Why aren't they able to use their powers to do so? Why do we have to make sure that everyone in Central City is a human? Are humans the better species?"

Hands immediately shot into the air.

"Metahumans are the ones that make it so that everyone we love is in danger," Derek said, with the emphatic nod of Rachel at his side. "If the Particle Accelerator never blew up, we never would've had the metahumans, and then we wouldn't have to worry every time we stepped out the front door."

"It's not just metahumans that are the problem," Mr. McCormack pointed out. "Just being real here. There were problems in this city long before metahumans came around. There was always the chance of you being held at gunpoint the second you opened your front door. You'd never know, because the crime rate was so high. If you pay attention to the news, you'd know that our crime rate has actually gone down since Flash and Flare arrived in Central City."

Rachel shook her head. "But they're still the ones who are causing the most damage."

"That's not true!" Leah protested. "Everyone that's been working with the Flash has been helping out the city." She turned to Mr. McCormack. "Right? That's what you just said."

"You need to get your hearing checked, loser," Rachel sneered. "He said the crime rate was lowered, not that they're not causing the most damage to the city." She waved a hand. "Look what they did with that missile launch. They killed hundreds of people."

"It was one hundred people," Brady snapped back, feeling his body temperature spike the second Rachel started to talk. He whirled around in his seat to face her. "Hundreds of thousands of people that would've died in this city. You might've died too, if they didn't direct it out into the forest."

"Okay, okay." Mr. McCormick brought up his hands and rubbed his forehead. "Let me ask another question. You guys are all willing to try and help your family and friends if you had any means to do it. But some people here, they still don't like the idea of the metahumans." He paused. "What if some of your classmates were metahumans."

All at once, Brady and Leah stiffened. He could see her fingertips tighten on her pen. To his left, Conner sucked in a sharp breath. There was a few seconds of stunned silence as the students tried to figure out how to respond to the question.

All the yelling started at once.

"If anyone is a metahuman, they need to be taken care of."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"They all need to be put in Iron Heights until it's sure that they're not a danger to us."

"Iron Heights isn't exactly the best place for metahumans to go. They treat them terribly there!"

"Duh, it's a prison!"

"It's supposed to be a prison for _humans_."

"They _are _humans, it's in the name 'metahuman'."

"So you admit they're human then?"

Brady shouted along with the rest of them, trying to get his opinion in edge-wise until Connor grabbed his arm and turned his attention toward him. "What?" Brady groused, growling through gritted teeth.

Connor glared back at him. "Do you _want _these guys to know you're a meta? Or that we're trying to those that are?" Brady stared. "Because the more you try to defend metahumans, the easier it's going to be for them to put two and two together. _Especially _because your mom and Barry both work closely with STAR Labs and that's where the Particle Accelerator blew." Brady opened his mouth to respond then stopped when Conner tightened his grasp on Brady's wrist. "If you want that, go ahead. If you think you can handle it. If not, then you need to shut up."

"Fine."

Brady pushed Conner's hand off his wrist and sat up straight, pressing his lips together as hard as he could. Waited for the class to end. When the bell finally rang, he grabbed his books, shoved them into his backpack, and stormed out of the room with Connor and Leah moving to catch up to him.

"If you keep acting like that, they're going to find out sooner than you think," Connor pointed out.

"I know." Brady sucked in a deep breath between his teeth. "It just…" he turned to face his best friends. "It just sucks. Because I wanted this, I wanted to be a meta since I knew my mom had powers, but…" he gestured with his hands. "I can't stand listening to everyone else do this on a daily basis. Especially with all this stuff with Lex Luthor going on? It's bullshit!"

Connor's and Leah's eyes widened in surprise.

"Whoa," Leah murmured.

"Okay," Connor said slowly. "I get you're mad—"

"—This is all Barry's fault, anyway," Brady continued.

Leah snorted. "How do you figure that?"

"If he hadn't had created Flashpoint none of this would've happened."

"You don't know that," Connor said. "There are, about, five hundred things that could've happened had Barry not created Flashpoint." He started to count on his fingers. "The Assassination Bureau may still be around. Savitar wouldn't have been created."

"Your mom wouldn't have died," Brady broke in. Connor's eyes blanked over with pain. He opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head and turned away. Leah frowned and punched Brady hard on the shoulder. "Ow!" He was sure she'd used her powers to make it a harder hit.

"Stop being such a jerk, Brady," Leah snapped. "Every time we have this debate in class, you become the biggest brat."

Brady frowned, an image of Deity suddenly appearing in his head. The same accusations had been said to her, and, if he remembered correctly, he'd been the one to say it.

Right.

They argued over who had the better mom—an schoolyard argument they still hadn't been able to come to a definitive conclusion over, biases aside—and argued over Deity's treatment of running away from home, staying with him and Cadence, and how she was treating Kara and…well, part of him kind of wanted to impress her in a way. In that stupid school yard way that his mother sometimes still teased him about. (She still made fun of him for his logic on how he thought a chest of drawers was called a Chester Drawer and only people named Chester could use it).

"Cause, I hate to break it to you, but there are many ways that your mom might be dead right now if it weren't for Barry."

Brady felt himself starting to calm down. Suddenly felt very tired, as if all that anger managed to take him over. He yawned, reaching up to rub at his eyes. Then he turned to Connor, who continued to look away from him, the haunted look still in his eyes.

"I'm—"

"—You don't have to say it," Connor interrupted. He blinked once then the pain was gone from his eyes. "I know how easily you could be in the same position. I'd be as mad as you are. I _am _as mad as you are. But getting mad like this, all the time, isn't going to help you."

"I don't _want _to be mad. It's just that these people are being so stupid about metahumans."

"Are you sure that's it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That I'm worried about you."

Connor started to say something else but stopped when he was shoved hard on the shoulder, knocked into the locker beside him. Brady and Leah jumped at the clanging sound and turned to find Derek standing behind him. Leah sucked in a sharp breath through her nose, she already targeted by Rachel on daily, having to deal with Derek as well was even worse.

"Watch where you're going, faggot," Derek snapped. He jerked his head toward Connor. "'May as well get rid of him along with the rest of the metas."

"You sure there's not something you're trying to hide?" Brady shot back. "Considering how much you've been taunting him for it?" He watched passively as Derek turned his wrath onto him. Grabbing his shoulders and shoving him hard into the locker behind him but not letting go. "You're kind of proving my point here."

Suddenly, all the wind was knocked out of him as he was struck directly in the diaphragm, his breath escaping him in one fell swing. He fell to his knees, coughing, struggling to get his breath back. Derek leaned down to his ear. "If you're smart, you'd stay down."

"Hey!" Alicia went over and grabbed Derek's arm, wrenching him up. "Leave him alone, Derek. He's not worthy our time."

"Come on, Leesh." Rachel put her arm around Alicia's shoulders. "Let him have a little fun. It's so boring around here without goofing on them a little bit." Alicia pushed Rachel's arm off her shoulders. "What's your problem?"

"Leave him alone," Alicia repeated. She hitched her purse up her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "It, like, just gets boring, you know?" She waved a hand in the air. "Like, figure it out yourselves. I'm out. My dad's taking me out to lunch. Maybe you'll find something else interesting to talk about when I get back."

She walked down the hallway toward the ay. Rachel and Derek exchanged glances, scared glances if Brady could tell from where he knelt on the floor, and hurried after her.

"Are you okay?" Leah grabbed Brady's shoulder and heaved him to his feet with ease.

"I'm fine," Brady murmured. He pressed a hand to his stomach before standing. "I hate those guys, though."

Connor shrugged. "At least you have us." Brady snorted at the cheesiness of the comment and punched Connor on the arm. Connor grinned back. "No offense, dude, but my girlfriend punches harder than you." He took Leah's hand and led the two down the hallway toward the cafeteria. Brady rolled his eyes and followed them, ignoring the raspberry Leah blew toward him as they went.

They got into the food line, filled their trays, and sat down at a table in the furthest corner so that they could talk among themselves. "Can we talk about anything else, please?" Brady asked.

"How's training with Black Blade going?" Leah asked, changing the subject.

"It's not. He's just suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth. Not that my mom would've been too happy to know I was working with him. But I need someone now that everyone knows Oliver is the Green Arrow. It would've been too easy to be linked back to Barry and Uncle Cisco and the others if I was still working with him."

"But you've been training with your mom," Connor pointed out. "Haven't you all been doing training sessions every day?"

"Yeah. But Miss. Cadence almost never faces off against Brady," Leah said. She bobbed her head to the side, blonde hair falling out of her face. Her brown eyes shifted back and forth. "Every other time he's been fighting against me or Cisco or Wally or whomever is projected through simulation. When we're not being trained on being aware of our surroundings and everything."

"Well. If I had powers and my mom had powers, I wouldn't want to fight her either," Connor said.

Brady smiled, but it didn't make him feel better. He'd faced against his mother before, when she was under the control of the Dominators, and nearly died. All because it was hard for him to fight back against her fire power, but eventually had to. Her power, especially when not holding back, had been much stronger than his, and while he had gotten some good hits in, it scared him to know how much damage she could do without thought.

It was no wonder Breathtaker had taken her in. Still, he did wonder, if what Black Blade said was true, what was it about him that was supposed to have helped taken down Breathtaker. _And what it means for what my powers can ultimately be. And why did Breathtaker show me what he really looked like if it didn't mean anything? Make me relive everything when I was with the Assassination Bureau?_

"She probably just doesn't want to hurt you," Connor added.

"I know, but if mom and Barry can put that aside, then how come she can't do that with me?"

''Um." Connor gave him a 'duh' look, pulling out his phone to scroll through hit. "Because you're her only son and, I don't know, I think she'd miss you if you were gone. Plus, how's she going to explain her only son being dead if people asked."

Brady shot him a 'duh' look in response. "I don't think she'd try to kill me, but okay." He paused. "For accidentally setting the curtains on fire, maybe, but not for training purposes. What?" He saw Connor's face ashen.

"You might want to get going," Connor said. He stood up, leaning the cell phone over the table so all three of them could see. "We've got a car going out of control a few streets away. 120 swerving between lanes. Someone's going to get killed." He turned the cell phone towards himself, brought up an app and program Brady had never seen before and, within seconds, grainy CCTV footage showed a police cruiser racing down the side-streets. "Something tells me that's not a coincidence."

Brady twisted his mouth to the side, felt his blood pressure rise. "You'd think she'd be able to go out to lunch without getting in some trouble."

"You have to go," Leah insisted.

Brady started to get up from the table. "I know," he replied. "Is it just the one car?"

"Just the one."

"It's pretty close, Leah, you should come with me."

She put a quick veto on that, though look disappointed to do so. "With my powers I'll turn that car into a brick wall, it crashes into anything, they're done. And if I make it lighter, I might fling them all the way to Star City." She looked around the cafeteria, hoping no eyes were on them. "You have to go. Now! We'll cover for you."

"What else is new?"

Brady got up from his seat and hurried out of the cafeteria. Rounding the corner, he yelped, crashing directly into Rose. She held her ground while Brady stumbled back, trying to keep his footing. "Sorry, Rose, I didn't see you there."

Rose merely smiled back, brushing her long braided pigtails behind her shoulders. "Leaving us so soon?" She asked. "Seems like every day you've got some sort of crisis to attend. Let me guess, Derek threatened to beat you up again?"

"Derek couldn't beat me up, no matter how hard he tried," Brady said. Then suddenly felt the need to add, "He caught me off-guard."

"Like I did?"

He blinked. "Y-yeah."

"I didn't mean to scare you."

Then, he suddenly became defensive. "I don't," he said. "I don't scare easily. I've seen a lot scarier things than you." His eyes shifted behind her. "I mean, uh, not that you're scary. I mean, I already said that."

"You already said that," Rose agreed. She laughed quietly then stepped aside, holding out her arm. The other held a sketchbook under her arm that was marred with fingerprints of charcoal and paint. "I'll let you go. Just try not to get into too much trouble." She flashed a smile over her shoulder as she walked away from him.

Brady looked after her, face screwing up in confusion, before he went to the only place he knew there weren't cameras. And had an even better chance of not being seen. Nevertheless, Brady looked around to be sure no one was in the boys' bathroom before he brought up his wrist and slammed his hand atop the housing unit of the 'watch' that housed his suit. Within seconds he was dressed in his suit and phased through the floor of the bathroom, moved through the ground and headed in the direction of the speeding car, phasing through the air as he did so.

"Hey, it's Brady, I'm on my way to the car," said into his Comm. Link. "I don't know for sure, but I think Alicia and Chief Paulson are inside." He looked down, seeing a flash of lightning streak below him. He pressed his lips together, seeing Barry race ahead of him. Now wasn't the time to say the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm almost there," Barry added.

"Okay guys, it's a runaway," Cadence's voice came over the Comm. Link. "Driver's trapped inside. According to CCTV footage, it is Chief Paulson and Alicia inside. Our thoughts aside, I don't think the city will react very well if we let anything happen to them."

"Got it," Barry said. "I'm gonna change his trajectory."

"Turn him left," Cadence explained. Brady nodded and started to do a hard bank to the left to follow the path of the car. "There's a turn off for runaway trucks coming up. Clear a path and the car will come to a safe stop."

"Nah, I'll push him right," Barry quickly replied. Brady screeched to a halt, nearly colliding with a wayward bird as he did so, watching as Barry quickly surrounded the car, turning its trajectory to the right side of the T intersection. "The street's empty. I can help him there!"

At once, Brady winced, feeling his shoulders hunch up when he heard his mother bark. "You can't do that!" He immediately banked to the right, moving closer toward the car with the tailwind that moved in his direction, spurning him to move forward even faster.

Below him, Brady saw Barry screech to a stop, pressing his hand son his knees to look at his handiwork. But upon hearing his fiancé's response, he brought hand up to his ear, giving Brady the chance to keep following after the car.

"What? Why?"

"They started construction on that street three months ago!"

"Oh…"

"I got this." Brady whipped out his Shadow Shot and placed his yo-yo inside as the ammunition. He pulled his arm back, tightening all the muscles up an down his arm as he was instructed to do. Aimed it toward a nearby lightpole, then sent it forward. His yo-yo shot out and, with the string trailing, wrapped around the light pole. Brady held onto the other end and used the retracting end to shoot himself forward at top speed.

Brady flung through the air, sling-shotted around the light pole and raced toward the back of the car. Phasing at the last second, Brady landed in the back seat and leaned toward Chief Paulson and Alicia, who were screaming at the tops of their lungs, eyes wide in terror.

"So, are you guys ready to go?" Brady asked, peering at them from behind the grate.

Chief Paulson jumped, glanced over his shoulder hearing Brady's voice behind him. His eyes narrowed int slits when he noticed the metahuman sitting in the backseat of his car. "Get away from me!" He declared. "I can handle this myself!" He turned back to the front, frantically twisting and turning his steering wheel, breaking into a sweat as he did so.

The engine of the car roared loudly as it swept forward. Brady frowned, hearing Alicia's continued screeching to fill the air. He turned to the front, frowning when he saw a strange purple and gray code swirling across the front of the touch screen that'd house the GPS feature and satellite stations.

"Sure, if you want to handle being crushed against that concrete wall," Brady said. He reached for them again, grunting beneath his breath when Chief Paulson pulled away from him once more. "Okay, it's your funeral." He reached out, phasing through the and grabbed Alicia's shoulder. "Gah!" She turned and immediately pressed her face into his neck, looping her arms around his neck so tightly it cut off his air flow as she nearly climbed him like a tree. "Okay, then."

Brady phased them from the car and brought them a safe distance away from the car. Alicia tightened her grasp on Brady's wrist. "Please, you have to help my dad!" Brady pointed at the lightning that shot by him, stopping only at the nearby mechanic shop within the time it took Brady to blink. "I think Flash has that covered," he replied, pointing. _Even though he made this mess in the first place._

True to his word, Barry raced in circles around the police cruiser, taking off bits and pieces of the car. The body of the car and tires went flying aside as the seconds passed until the car screeched to a stop with Chief Paulson in the seat. By the time Barry finished, Chief Paulson's car, which now resembled a go-kart rather than the cruiser, gently bumped against the concrete barrier that blocked the end of the street.

Barry skidded to a stop, placing his hands on his knees, working to catch his breath. He stood and spun the wrench in his hand, watching as Chief Paulson slowly lowered his hands from the steering wheel, allowing the chance to glare at Barry between his deep breaths, face as red as the light that had previously been on the top of his cruiser. Barry wiggled the wrench back and forth.

"You're welcome!" He called, lifting his hand.

Alicia released herself from Brady's grasp and raced to her father, falling to her knees next to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Nice job you guys," Cadence said after a second. "Looks like we don't have too much about this save. Chief Paulson would rather die than thank any of the metas that'd helped him. It'll keep him off our tail for a while."

Cisco sighed heavily, his breath filling the Comm-Links with static before he said, "I know a guy almost died but what happened to this mans' cruiser is the real tragedy here." Brady could practically see Cisco plant his hands on his hips and shake his head. "That was a fine ass car for a police chief."

"That could've been a lot worse," Wally said.

_Don't remind me, _Brady thought, shaking his head. He watched as Chief Paulson turned and wrapped his arms around Alicia, gently stroking her hair as he tried to calm her down. He tilted his head, watching the stoic expression on Chief Paulson's face. He patted Alicia's back twice, all but pushing her away from him. She continued to kneel by his side, eyeing him as he faced front and ran his hands over his face once more.

Let out a long, hard, breath.

Drew an arm across his forehead.

Did everything but broke down from being Chief Paulson to be her dad.

Brady had no idea how he could do that. And suddenly felt a huge surge of appreciation for what his mother did every day. He brought a hand up to his ear, pressed it into his Comm. Link. "Have I ever told you that I really appreciate everything you do for me?"

"If I had a dime for every time you've told me that, I'd have a dime," Cadence joked. Brady smiled. "Go back to school. And if I the principal calls me, I'm going to kick your butt."

Brady's smile widened and he did as he was told.

* * *

Barry raced into the Cortex, stripped his suit off onto the mannequin to be cleaned later, changed into his clothes, and skidded to a stop in the middle of the Cortex. Wally, Cisco, and Cadence all stared at him as he threw his arms out to keep himself from falling over. "Hey, I'm sorry guys," Barry said quickly holding up his hands defensively. "The car…that…that whole thing…this one's on me." He walked to the computer desk, resting his hands against it so stretch his lower back. "I checked in on Chief Paulson. He's fine. Alicia is fine, but she's going to be pulled out of school for the rest of the day. Her mom is going to pick her up from the station."

"That's good," Cisco said, chin resting in his hands. He turned his gaze back to the computer screen in front of him. "Knowing that she's fine will do _wonders _to make it so that I can crack this computer code!" He gritted his teeth before reaching into his candy drawer to pull out a handful of Twizzlers. "This _stupid _computer code!" He chomped off the end of a Twizzler and chewed madly.

"Well, if it helps…" Barry rummaged through the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a tiny USB. He wiggled it back and forth in front of Cisco's face. "I downloaded the code Brady was saying he saw in the car, I thought it might help."

Wally hummed to himself, watching as Cisco wordlessly held out his hand and allowed Barry to slap the USB into his palm. "First the elevator and now a police cruiser." He looked Barry in the eye. "You think we have to worry about this guy targeting the CCPD, whoever he is?"

Barry's face screwed up in thought. After a second, he shook his head. "Nah, there's not really any connection with the CCPD through this. I even thought, maybe, its their power? Kurt is—was—worth billions and Chief Paulson basically runs the city."

"Not unless Kurt and Chief Paulson were, like, drinking buddies or something," Cadence pointed out. She sat in one of the chairs, knees pulled up to her chest, an intense expression of concentration on her face. "Kurt was fairly young and Chief Paulson isn't." She shook her head. "The stress certainly doesn't let him look it, anyway."

"Well, as we've always found, there has to be a connection somewhere," Wally said. He turned to Cadence. "I don't have any classes for the rest of the afternoon, I can take a look around to see if anything else comes up. Maybe see if we can find a connection rather than force one."

"That could really help," Barry said with an eager nod. "The sooner we can figure this out, the safer everything will be. Things like this…" he stood, crossing his arms. "I don't know, it might cause a massive recall or something. More answers is progress." He waited for the tell-tale whoosh that meant Wally raced from the room, but it didn't come.

Instead, Wally looked to Barry, lowered his chin, and bit his lower lip. He looked at Cadence out the corner of his eye and waited. Cadence tapped her fingers against her lips before shaking her head. "No, I don't want you running off on a wild goose chase if we don't have an idea of what direction we're headed in." Wally nodded, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly. She gave him a kind smile. "I know you're ready to get back out there, especially since your leg's healed since the Samuroid stabbed you, but you'll get your chance. I just don't want you to waste your time on something we don't know for sure. In the meantime, keep improving yourself with the training we've been working on and you'll be fine."

"Okay, cool." Wally stepped back, lifting his chin. He looked from Barry to Cadence and back. "Well, I'm going to the Speed Lab to work on some of that training, alright?" He didn't wait for a response and ran.

Silence stretched through the Cortex before Cisco's low chuckling filled the void. "Awk-ward," he sing-songed under his breath. Then started to cough. He slapped himself hard on the sternum until his coughing subsided. "Wow, that's the fastest I've been hit with karma."

Barry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cisco…"

"Mm!" Cisco's eyes widened. He leaned close to his computer screen. "That's the weird code from the elevator murder scene. The same stuff in Chief Paulson's car." He looked to Cadence, who got up from her seat and moved to Cisco's side at the same time Barry founded the computer desk to stand on the other side.

A barrier between them, Barry noted.

"So there is a connection there," Cadence murmured. Her face screwed up. "What connection would Chief Paulson have with this guy?"

"Weaver…Weaver…" Cisco hummed to himself. "And he's in tech?" He started to rub his forehead. "Why does that name sound so familiar? Maybe from some tech magazines or something? I'm 90% sure I heard that name in one of the ones I collected in high school."

Cadence lifted an eyebrow. "_Those _are the magazines you collected in high school?" she teased.

Cisco glared at her, before pointedly turning his back to her. "Hey, we couldn't all be high school royalty Miss. Two-time Prom Queen."

"It was once," Cadence said. "I didn't have my senior prom, remember?" She tapped Cisco on the head. "Let us know if you find anything out, especially about this virus. Can you reverse-search it?" He waved a hand at her, shooing her away. "Okay, I'll leave you to it."

"Are you going back to work?" Barry asked, suddenly feeling there was nothing left to do in the Cortex. He fell in step with Cadence as she headed toward the elevator.

"I was going to get something to eat first," she said. "Still on my lunch break."

"Do you want to eat together then? I have some time before I need to get back, too. Just waiting on some more witnesses to come forward for the case from this morning. And now with Chief Paulson. He's probably going to be spending the rest of the day in his office."

"Sure." Cadence shrugged, stepped into the elevator. She pressed the button that fed it down to the lobby. "It'd give us some time to talk."

Barry felt his heart drop. That was never a conversation anyone enjoyed having. _At least it'll release some of the tension, _he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. "About what happened? With the whole Chief Paulson thing?" He started to speak quickly. "Look, I'm sorry I should've listened to you. It's just that when I'm out there, sometimes things move so fast." She gave him a look. "But you get that. I know you do. You had to take care of the city while I was gone. I guess I'm just excited to be the Flash again! It's so different, than being in the Speed Force for so long! There wasn't really a sense of time or anything to show what was going on, and it was like the Flash didn't even exist!"

"Speak for yourself," Savitar murmured, standing off to Barry's right, leaning against the corner of the elevator. Barry ignored him. The doors to the elevator opened and the two left STAR Labs, squeezing through the opening in the chain link fence that separated it from the rest of the sidewalk.

"Anyway, I just really needed to get in there and get my hands dirty, you know?" Barry continued. He lifted his hands, looking at the small smudges of grease that stuck to his fingers, having bled through the material of his suit. "I hope you're not mad." They came to a crosswalk behind a young couple that stood holding hands, waiting for the light to change. Cadence turned to him, lifting an eyebrow. "And you are." He nodded. "You're mad, aren't you?"

"Not yet," Cadence replied. "Get someone killed and then I may be a little bit mad." She looked over her shoulder as the couple looked at them funny. "Metaphorically, speaking," she added quickly. He nodded. "I get you wanting to rush back into things, but things aren't the same, you know? We've been through a lot."

"'Yeah, no, I know, but…" Barry tilted his head, trying to catch her eye. "We can try to get things back to where they were."

"I don't know," the woman of the young couple spoke up. She nodded toward her boyfriend. "She's kind of right; the more things change, the harder they are to stay the same." Barry made a face and was relieved when he saw Cadence was making the same one. Stuck between being confused and between having to go along with whatever lie they had to perpetuate for the public. (Not to mention, he was sure that wasn't how the saying went).

"You left," the man said. "Break ups are hard, man." He nodded in understanding. "But if you're willing to give it another chance, it just means the trust has to be mended again, right?"

Barry and Cadence exchanged glances once more.

"Uh…" Barry started to say, but couldn't find the words to help the situation. He caught Cadence's eye once more, saw the light that flickered in them, and the twitching of her lips, knowing she was about to start laughing.

He smiled, feeling the mirth bubbling up in his chest.

In the split second of silence, the grin stretching across Barry's face, there was a gunshot. For a moment, everything around him slowed in response to his flinching at the sound. To his warning of probably danger.

He saw everything.

Saw how Cadence's eyes widened in surprise, saw all her muscles tense one by one, saw the tendrils of smoke that started to form, signaling she was about to teleport. Then Barry's eyes shifted back towards the couple and widened even further when he saw the look of absolute horror growing on the woman's face and the pain on the man's.

Saw the blood start to spray into the air from a bullet wound that formed on the left side of his head. An entrance wound. As the long seconds stretched out, Barry saw the exit wound form, a bloody, pulpy mess created from the exploding side of the head. Bone fragments and gray matter spurted through the exit wound, splattering over the concrete and, simultaneously, the front of Barry's suit.

Blood flowed freely from the man's mouth like a fountain, hands agonizingly slow to grasp the side of his head, the tiny bullet stretching to freedom from the man's skull.

Barry saw it all in seconds before everything sped up again and he ran. The woman screamed as she turned, shielding her face. The man's life snuffed out the moment the bullet carved a path through his skull and brain, sending bone fragments deep into the gray matter, and out into the air.

Cadence teleported, Barry ran, and they left the innocent bystanders behind.

It didn't occur to Barry until he stopped, far away from the site, that he referred to them as innocent bystanders. As it pushed forward the thought, that he and Cadence were the target of the shooting.

If that were the case, who was trying to hurt them enough to take out anyone who may've been standing idly by.

More importantly, what happened to Central City while he was gone?

* * *

**A/N: **And here's that extra-long chapter for you all., about double the length of what I've done with previous chapters of the story. You get a little more insight into Brady, though with the next few you'll really get an idea of what's going on with him. Thank you for being so patient as I worked on this one down to the wire.

I've got something really cool coming up that I can't wait for you to see. I dropped a lot of little hints as to what's to come within this chapter, let's see if you can find it.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**DarkHelm145: **Oh yeah, that really was an intense convo. And Maya's just fine, Barry really needs to learn how to phrase conversations to not scare people, lol. I'm glad you liked what I was doing with Frankie and Cadence's tie into it, it's actually something I wished I was able to show more within the last story, but I also think it works better that we see little ties into it in this story and have it all leak together as things move forward.

**Ethan: **Already answered on Twitter, but yes, they're just knocked out. This isn't something that's gone completely, it's going to be coming back as, as you know, I don't really bring up things unless they're important enough to show up later. (Though, sometimes in writing things are meant to only be mentioned once or twice).


	13. Blown Up and Reconfigured

**12**

_Blown Up and Reconfigured_

**A/N: **And here's the other reason as to why this story may move up to a 'M' rating. If you're not comfortable with this sort of thing, I understand, and will give a quick synopsis if needed for you to continue on with the story.

* * *

Piano music softly played throughout DeVoe's hideout, coming from the holographic piano projected in thin air. His hands gently swiped over the keys with ease of one who had been playing for a majority of their life. Something he couldn't quite boast about, he'd only learned how to play a few hours before but knew would impress even those of the simplest minds if they were to notice such amazing feats of music.

Not that he put much thought into what simple humans were and weren't able to enjoy what life had to offer. He was so engrossed in his playing that he didn't notice Marlize coming up behind him.

A small smile played across her face, hands clasped in front of her. She stopped just behind him, eyes closed so that she could enjoy the music completely. She swayed a little to the tune then let out a wistful sigh. "Ahh, one of my childhood favorites," she mused. "Schubert's _Unfinished Eighth Symphony. _So underrated."

"And unfinished," DeVoe agreed. He smirked, lowering his hands to his lap, the holographic piano disappearing the second he placed his hands back on the arms of his floating vehicle. "Until now." He cast a smile to his wife over his shoulder.

"You didn't," Marlize gasped. She took a step toward her husband, watching her husband closely, a small smile pulling at her lips.

DeVoe shrugged. "It was surprisingly simple to extrapolate the remaining movements once I familiarized myself with the body of his works." He turned the vehicle around so that he could look at his wife closely.

"All 600 of his works?"

"I woke up early this morning." DeVoe shrugged once more. Then his voice lowered to a sinister tone. "Do you have an update?" The change of subject was sudden, yet Marlize was able to keep up with her husband.

She moved into 'business mode' as easily as he did, rolling her shoulders back and clasping her hands firmly behind her back. The warmth in her smile faded into a cold, calculated one. "Subject One has been located. He's safe." She tipped her head. "For now." The corner of her lips pulled back a fraction of and inch. "It won't be long until he's locked up in the metahuman wing in Iron Heights. Just as you want." DeVoe smiled. "Then what do we do?"

"Find the others."

"And the Samuroids?"

"We'll dispatch the next one as soon as we can. Firstly, we need to see what it is this…Black Blade, can do."

* * *

Cadence looked over her shoulder when she heard the unmistakable sound of a fist beating on the door. How they'd managed to find her so quickly, she wasn't sure. But the hesitation wasn't enough for her to sit back and wait for a bullet to come splintering through the wood and into her forehead. That was the best path of trajectory they could get, her stature was short enough that where a normal man's chest was where the middle of her face would sit.

Could she survive a gun shot to the face? Was her healing fast enough to handle that? She didn't know and that day wasn't one that she wanted to use it figure it out. Nevertheless, she found herself waiting for the pounding fist to come once more. The irritation of the person on the other side wouldn't last too long before action was taken.

Silently, she sidled up to the peep hole and peered through. The warped, fishbowl of an eye looked back at her before she got a glimpse of the ear turning toward her. Then the man stepped back—she didn't recognize him but at least was able to note he had a 90s bowl cut he should've shaved ages ago. When he backed away, she saw four more men with him, all with varying degrees of body types, some lithe and fast, others bigger and would move slower, but stronger. A tough match up against her own small and athletic body. There was always the chance that, powers or no powers, she'd be able to defeat them, but she wasn't so naïve to think that a grown man couldn't best her if the time ever came.

"Break the damn door down," Bowl-Cut demanded, backing away and drawing out a pistol.

Ponytail nodded and moved to the front of the group. His large muscles rippled beneath his jacket as he brought his arm back, ready to use his elbow to knock down the door. Cadence waited, muscles tensing, ready for fight or flight. The second she saw him draw his arm back, she paced backwards, shifted her weight to the balls of her feet, and sprinted forward. The moment his elbow contacted the door, Cadence burst forward and rammed her shoulder into the door, following it with the momentum of her body weight.

The door, which she knew to be flimsy, fell apart at the bolts, allowing her to cling to it and follow its momentum forward and onto Ponytail. Scrambling on her hands and feet, she grabbed the shoulders of the men closes to her—Crew Cut and Buzzed—and used them as leverage to jump up and grab the exposed pipe above her and used it to swing forward and drive her feet into Mullet's chest, driving him back.

In the time it took for him to hit the ground, Cadence had the thought that he'd better a new haircut as no one would take him seriously as a killer with a Mullet. She sprinted around the corner and down the hallway, hearing the footsteps behind her. Turning the corner, another thug came to her, and she quickly side-stepped him, leaping off a furnace to get around him. Another one came around the corner up ahead. She sprinted forward and lowered her head, driving her shoulder into his chest.

She caught him by surprise, could tell from the way his breath spewed from him at once before he sucked back, making a choking sound. The sound only thwarted by the _thwack_ing of his head and back against the wall behind him, seconds before the drywall and plaster gave way, knocking them through to the next room.

Cadence tucked her legs in and landed on her knees, driving them into the man's stomach to cushion her fall. The guy gaped up at her before she brought back her fist and punched him in the face. She scrambled to her feet, running further into the apartment they'd fallen into. Raced through the winding rooms, until she found one that held a window with sunlight streaming through it. The side of the building she was looking for.

She raced between a couple of young men having a conversation, gaping at her when, in a flash, she shot across their living room and leapt out their window. She tucked her arms and legs in to cover her face from the flying glass and twisted her body around as she fell. Reaching out her hands, her palms slammed into the railing of a balcony. The force of her falling velocity against the metal wasn't a match for the rusted metal, which broke off and swung her down toward the window of the apartment beneath her.

She let go and swung forward into the apartment, where she landed on her feet and kept running, tossing a quick, "Hi," to the little kids that sat inside, watching TV.

They greeted her cheerfully in response, "Hi, Cadence!" not looking away from the TV. Cadence made her way from the apartment and to the building's stairwell, leaping over the railing from one landing to another, making the men that raced up the stairs to do a double-take, looking at her in surprise as she flew by. Landing, Cadence whipped around and flung herself down the side of the railing, kicking another man in the face, evading every grab toward her while she made her way down the flights of stairs.

Finally, she made it to a landing with only one door that'd lead her to safety. She pumped the safety bar and punched through to an empty hallway…empty except for the thudding footsteps behind her and the small group of men that raced directly toward her.

"How many men does this guy have?" she mumbled under her breath, watching them come closer. It was an ironic question, she knew. Criminals always had wave after wave of disposable men to keep the police as far from them as possible.

"Get her!" The man in front of her yelled.

Cadence gritted her teeth. Sensed the body temperature of the man behind her, about to reach out and grab her ponytail and yank her to a jolting stop. Quickly, she threw herself aside and out the open window directly to her right, barely missing the fingers scrabbling toward her. She flipped sideways through the air, landing in a crouch to relieve the sting of pain from her feet up to her knees. Immediately, the door behind her pumped open, the breeze of the door flying open mixed with the fall breeze around her.

_Damn it, _Cadence looked around her surroundings. She was closer to the ground, but still not close enough from the new rooftop she now stood atop of. There weren't many places in Central City that had apartment buildings so close, but it at least gave her leeway to use her gymnastics background to throw into her parkour moves to aid in her getaway.

Lowering herself to her stomach, she scrambled through the closest open window and across the bed of a young couple who screamed in terror at her appearance then of the appearance of the men chasing her. Thankfully, the layouts of the apartment were similar in that she navigated her way through each of them with ease. Her chest heaved, heart pounding against her ribcage painfully while she worked as hard as she could to get away.

Running blindly, she found herself running through another door…to thin air in front of her. Nothing but the end of a metal frame and a long drop below. She certainly wasn't going to be able to stop in time. So, she continued her full pelt forward, lifted foot up to the railing as if she were to do a wall climb, flipped herself backwards and up—simultaneously—and landed on the same structure right above her. She turned and raced up the stairs, jerking her head back just before the opening door smacked her in her sinuses. It would've been painful enough, but a good blow into her nose would've knocked the cartilage further back than she would've liked.

Probably would've had the chance to kill her if she couldn't quickly heal.

Cadence stepped back, evaded the elbow that was throw to her face, punched Ponytail directly in the throat, and threw him over the side of the external stairwell before racing into the space he'd previously occupied. _Looks like I'm going up. _She continued to run, moving to any place that was safe enough for her to continue her path, taking on anyone who got in her way with ease.

Finally, she made it to the roof top, climbing pipes to get higher and further away from the men chasing her. She raced towards the slope in the roof and leap off, sticking out her foot so she could slide down it, rolling onto her shoulders when she reached the end of the slope. She ran and ran, using everything in her way, trash cans and random pieces of furniture to leap over and knock back and trip up the others. Engaging in quick—but fierce—hand to hand combat for anyone who managed to come too close.

A humiliating defeat with how quickly she made work of them, sharp elbows into the sternum and neck felled them like trees. And yet, there seemed to be more and more of them coming as the seconds passed. A wave of men trying to take down what—they thought—was a poor defenseless woman. They learned that lesson the hard way as she managed to take every one down with ease.

From rooftop to rooftop she went, until there was a large gap between the one she was on and the one in front her. A gap large enough to cause certain death if she mis-timed her jump. She looked over her shoulder, at the group that came after her, and made her decision. It was a quick calculation of her speed, the distance, and how many steps she'd need it to clear herself to the other side.

The quickest calculation she'd made her in life.

In a split second, gravel spraying form beneath her feet, Cadence ran straight toward the end of the roof top. She planted her foot on the ledge and pushed herself up and out at the same time. The wind blew by her as her arms and legs wind milled through the air. The edge of the roof loomed closer and closer, for a second, Cadence thought, with horror, that she'd miscalculated. That she was about to slam chest first into the side of the building which could most certainly crush her sternum, her ribs, and the force of her abrupt stop cause her heart to shoot forward and sever itself from the arteries leading to it.

She'd die a horrifically painful death, save for her crashing to the ground and cracking her skull open. But, at the last second, Cadence brought her arms in and made it so that she gave herself an extra turn and cleared the side of the roof. She turned and rolled across her shoulders, coming to a stop in a kneeling crouch.

Breathing heavily, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back at the roof behind her. At the small-ish crowd of faces that stared back at her, knowing they were unable to make the same jump. A grin came to Cadence's face, she stood and drew her arm across her forehead, removing the sweat and grime that covered her.

She brought up her free hand to the communication piece nestled in her ear. "Stop the simulation," she said. In seconds, the Central City skyline melted away to return to the empty simulation room of STAR Labs. She placed her hands on her hips an turned back to Cisco, who sat at the control panel, watching her. She lifted her chin toward him.

"Well?"

He shook his head. "I think you kicked ass like always," he replied as she walked closer. "But I didn't really see anything." He grabbed a towel and tossed it toward her. He noticed her frown of frustration and shook his head, curls bouncing as he did so. "I'm sorry, Cade, but there wasn't anything there that would've given a good vantage point of where this shooter would've come from. And Sally didn't get it either."

Cadence let out a quit sigh, gently closing her eyes. She pursed her lips. "A sniper tried to take me and Barry out and we can't get anything?" Her eyebrows shot upwards, pinching together to show her displeasure. "We've been trying this for days now."

"I know, but that doesn't mean we can give up."

"I'm not giving up. I'm just starting to question whether or not we should really be afraid that technology is about to take over all of our jobs." She grinned, seeing the offended expression on Cisco's face as she perched on the end of the computer desk, crossing her legs at the knee. "Sorry, Cisco, did I hit a nerve?"

Cisco made a squeaking sound of surprise, pressing his hand to his chest. He slowly blinked, bringing his head back to look at her clearly. "Did you strike a _nerve_?" He cleared his throat and spoke firmly but seriously. "You decide to besmirch my love for technology and sciences and what is going to happen with the future, and you think you didn't strike a nerve?" He gently stroked the keyboards in front of him. "It's alright, she didn't mean it." Cadence giggled quietly to herself, she reached down to open the candy cabinet and cried out when he reached out his hand and smacked it against hers.

"Ow!" Cadence brought her hand back to her lap, rubbing it soothingly.

Cisco rolled his eyes. "You have super-strength, that couldn't possibly have hurt."

"Probably hurt a lot less than a bullet through my forehead," she remarked, shooing his hand away and opened the drawer. She pulled out a package of Smarties and popped one into her mouth. She chewed slowly, face screwing up against the chalky flavor. "You need to get new candy."

"You need to stop _eating _my candy or buy some yourself," Cisco replied. He snatched the candy from her and threw it back into the cabinet. He gave a humorless smile, only one side of his mouth turn up. "How many parts of the city have we looked at so far?"

Cadence ran a hand through her hair, thinking. "Seaside, Downtown, Business District…"

"So, basically, every place in the city that we've ever fought any of the homicidal maniacs that we've come across over the past three years." Cisco bobbed his head back and forth. "Some solid choices. But not close enough to STAR Labs to have put you guys as a target." He lifted his finger. "Plus, we also have to figure out why they targeted you."

"Because it'd be too easy for us to have normal lives?"

"No, no, think about it." Cisco leaned back in his seat, looking at the ceiling. He used his feet to gently push himself in a circle. "These guys had to have been close enough to use that sniper shoot to try and get you two. But…they only shot once, stopping once they saw they didn't reach you. It's possible that they didn't know you were a metas."

"But they do now," Cadence pointed out with growing dread.

Cisco pointed at her. "That's correct, my friend. So, if they didn't know you were metas before…they could be after you for your money?" At her snort, he started spinning faster. "Hey! Together you can be the Beyoncé and Jay-Z of the meta world with how much money you guys bring in. I mean, yeah, it sucks that it's all inheritance and I only wish that my parents could kick the bucket so I can get some of that sweet, sweet satisfaction."

"Okay, so they want our money," Cadence said slowly. "But then why would they decide to do it so publicly?" She worked it over as she spoke. "They know we're getting married; the announcement was out in the newspaper. They know all about Barry because of what happened with his mom and dad. They've mentioned my parents' business, so that goes without saying." She bobbed her head. "Yeah, I guess it could be for the money."

"You sound like you don't believe it."

"Only because I don't quite believe that this wouldn't be because we're metas. Which his even more worrying," she admitted.

Cisco waved a hand. "Enlighten me."

"Our meta-database was stolen and put in Amunet's Black Market. Anyone could have that information on us. It might be out on the deep web where _anyone _can find it."

"You mean the Dark Web," Cisco interrupted her. "And it's not there, I already looked." Cadence's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Hey, we computer nerds have a lot of time on our hands while we're waiting for certain results to come back on our tests. And you best believe I know how to peer around some VPNs and firewalls. You know how your boys does it!"

"And can my boy figure out the ballistics of the bullet to trace it back to the gun used?"

"Ummm. Aren't you the one in the CCPD? Shouldn't you know how to do that?" Cadence reached over, grabbed the arm of Cisco's chair and gave it an almighty spin. Cisco grasped the arms of the chair and screamed at the tops of his lungs, it mixed along with Cadence's laughter as he was flung around until he flew out of the chair and hit the floor. Cisco lay sprawled on the ground, staring up at the ceiling before rolling to his side, placing a hand over his mouth.

"You're mean," Cisco moaned. He heaved, cheeks blowing up. "I know you've got that sweet disposition going on, but you're evil in a tiny package." He pushed himself up as Cadence went and grabbed his hand, easily hauling him to his feet. "Did you really have to do that? What kind of a leader are you? Barry wouldn't do this to me!"

Cadence's smile wilted ever so slightly. She couldn't help it, worked hard to keep it up. If Cisco noticed, he didn't say anything. Instead, he heaved himself back into his seat, still looking green around the gills. "You think you can try another sweep of the city? See if there's anything we missed from the footage. Any other camera angles. Any other roads we may have missed."

"Roads?" Cisco barked. "Where we're going, we don't need roads!"

Cadence tilted her head, blinking blankly back at him. "Star Wars?" She guessed. Cisco looked back at her with wide eyes. Even wider than anything she'd ever seen him do before. He even started to shake, face going pale. "What?"

"How…how can you…how?" Cisco stammered. He placed his chin in his hands and stared at her. "I think we have to stop being friends. I don't…have you never seen _Back to The Future?_"

"Uh, because I actually had a life in High School?"

"Oh, and at the end of the year were you nominated 'Biggest Bitch'?"

Cadence gave him a look, shooting him the middle finger, then jumped when there was a gust of air that blew through the control room. She looked over to see Barry skid to a stop, a large grin on his face. He removed his cowl and beamed at the two. "I stopped three car jackings, a drug deal, a robbery," his smile faded slightly, "And rescued about four cats from the trees."

"That's all you found on patrol?" Cisco asked.

"That's all. Nothing meta related, not even anti-meta protests." He placed his hands on his hips. "'Nothing about the new meta, either. Things have been quiet, no tech issues. We've interviewed the witnesses again and got nothing. I think we're at an end pass on this one."

"Until all the technology decides to rise up and take us over," Cadence said, shooting Cisco a glance. He glared at her in response. "All right, well, at least we've got the city looked over before we did our training tonight."

"Oh, I cancelled that," Barry piped up with a wave of his hand. "You don't have to worry about that."

Cadence blinked in surprise. "You cancelled it?" She repeated. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Cisco grimace, shifting his head down to stare at the computer screen in front of him. She saw his hands tighten on the arms of the chair and raise himself a little, as if he was stuck between staying or leaving. He looked as if he were about to hatch an egg.

She felt his body temperature rise from where he saw. Wondering what to do.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't need it. Right?" He looked to Cisco for help, who smiled weakly. Barry turned back to Cadence, his eyes searching hers. "I'm back and I just did a patrol of the city, everything's fine. And if something did happen, we can quickly run out there and figure things out."

Cadence reached up and rubbed her forehead. "We needed that training, Barry. Not just for us, but for Brady and Leah. We need to make sure that they're back up to speed…that we're _all _back up to speed and know to work as a team again."

"We _are _a team," Barry insisted with an encouraging grin. Then, after a second, it faded. "Well, almost. If Caitlin were here, then we'd really be a team again." He paused and bobbed his head back and forth. "And if we had another Wells in here. But I think we can go a year without that." Cadence took in a deep breath through her nose. "Anyway, I think we should take a night off and just enjoy the fact that everything's going back to normal."

"You mean like the victims of the speed force lightning who're in the hospital?"

"It would've been a lot worse if I didn't go," Barry reminded her. "Just like…things here if I didn't get out."

"He had a point," Cisco murmured.

Cadence ignored him.

"You wouldn't have had to have gotten out if you didn't go in, in the first place," Cadence interrupted. Silence stretched over the control room. Cadence sighed and took a step back, running a hand over her face. "But that was all because of Savitar, anyway."

Barry pressed his lips together. He placed his hands on his hips, lowered his head, then asked quietly. "Don't you mean that's my fault?" He asked. "Savitar wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for me creating Flashpoint."

"No one can blame you for that, Bare," Cisco said quietly. He stood, pushing back his seat. He winced, rubbing his tailbone, where it had come in painful contact against the floor. "If it happened to any of the rest of us, we would've done the same thing." He looked to Cadence and said, "I'm going to take another look through the cameras to see if we can find anything about this new meta…and to see who tried to take you two out."

''Okay, thanks."

Cisco started to leave the control room then turned back to Cadence. He looked to Barry, then to her and said, "Maybe you should take this night off, Cade. Just to relieve from stress. We've been working ourselves to the bone while Barry's been gone, just…try to blow off some steam or something okay?" He turned to leave, then turned back to her. "But don't blow off any of that steam in here, I only just replaced all the instruments you melted." He turned his hand into a 'V' pointed at his eyes, then pointed them at her. "I'm watching you." And he left.

Cadence ran a hand through her hair, watching as Barry whooshed out of sight to chance back into his street clothes. He came back with a bag over his shoulder. He looked at her earnestly, with a semi-wounded puppy expression that only Barry Allen could master. "Are you ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah." Cadence nodded.

Maybe Cisco was right, maybe it was a good idea to get some time off. She couldn't' remember the last time she'd had 'off' in the last six months. When she wasn't at work, she was raising Brady, when she wasn't raising Brady she was training him and Leah, when she wasn't training, she was at her Zumba classes, when she wasn't at Zumba classes she was socializing, and when she wasn't socializing, she was at work.

Over and over.

A night in couldn't be too bad.

Was probably something she really needed.

The two went back to their apartment. Barry dropped his bag by the front door and leaned over to the amphibian bowl that sat just by the front door. He peered into it, gently tapping on the glass. "McSnurtle is looking pretty good," he remarked.

"Yeah, Brady's been taking his job of feeding him very seriously," Cadence agreed, flipping through the mail that'd been slipped beneath their door. Invoices and more invoices for photographers and caterers. She put them aside to the growing pile on her side of the dining table, then flipped through the rest. "He's really trying to prove that he can have his own pet." She dropped to the couch, rubbing her temples.

"Tell him I said 'thanks," Barry replied. He gently stroked McSnurtle's back then looked to her. "Are you hungry?"

Cadence laughed. "What kind of question is that?" She burned nearly as many calories as he did on a good day. Even more when she actively used her powers in a lengthy battle. The nearby Big Belly Burgers had started to refuse to sell to them due to how many things they'd order at once. And, within the last six months, she and Brady had been kicked out of a buffet for allegedly 'taking advantage of the all you can eat promotion'.

Barry laughed. "Pad See Ew?" he offered.

"Please."

It was whisked back in front of her within seconds. Cadence drew her legs up and turned, resting them in Barry's lap as he spooned out portions for them. Making sure to leave some for Brady for when he got back later that day. She grabbed the remote and turned it to ESPN, frowning when Barry made a low groaning sound in his throat.

"I think you're the only guy I know who doesn't want to watch sports," Cadence remarked.

"It's not that," he defended himself, slurping some noodles into his mouth. "The Diamonds haven't been playing well lately. I can't watch another slaughter." He shrugged. "I'm actually starting to think I'm a jinx. Since I got back they've started losing. I've looked up the stats."

Cadence snorted. "I don't think your presence or lack thereof is affecting them."

"I mean, morale may've been low since the Flash has been gone." He gestured toward the TV screen as the baseball game started up once more. "They've got a special Flash-Diamonds jersey. I mean something to these people."

"Right, and Captain Singh knows we're Flash and Flare." Cadence laughed, brushing her hair behind her ear, tucking her carton of food close to her chest as she settled into the couch. "The Diamonds are losing because the Diamonds suck."

Barry looked at her out the corner of his narrowed eyes. "Don't tell me you think the Meteors are the better team."

"Root, root for the home team," Cadence sing-song, wiggling back and forth to the tune of the song. Now it was Barry's turn to snort. She lifted her foot, nudging him in the side. "Even their batting average is better, and they lost nearly every game last year."

"You're exaggerating."

"They've got a pinch hitter from the St. Louis Cardinals and…" She waved a hand. "You don't want to know what I think about that."

"The Cardinals aren't that bad—"

"—They're cheaters!" Cadence exploded, violently jabbing her finger towards the TV. Barry laughed at her sudden outburst. "You _can't _tell me you don't think hacking the Astros wasn't cheating. And all they got was being stripped of their picks in the draft? Please!" Barry laughed harder. Cadence looked at him, smiling a little. "What's so funny?"

"Remember our first date?" He asked. Then amended, "Our first actual date, not the one the Reverse-Flash ruined. Where we were arguing over the Miners and the Generals?"

Cadence laughed. "Yeah." She pointed at him with her chopsticks. "You're still wrong."

"About Keystone beating them both?"

"Oh, no, we're still going to get creamed. I just meant that you were wrong about the Miners winning. Like, you were actually wrong." She waved a hand. "There was a lot of stuff going on with Savitar and all that, but they lost badly."

"Yeah, I tried not to think about that while we tried not to get killed." Barry finished his plate and quickly inhaled another one before splitting up the dessert between them. He finished half of it, grabbed the remote and changed the channel. All of a sudden the images on screen started to move faster than the speed of light. "D'you mind, I have to catch up on Game of Thrones so Cisco and I can talk about it."

"_Yes_, I mind," Cadence groaned. "This gives me a headache! Brady, Connor, and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off and wasn't sure if we were watching _The Bachelor_ or _American Horror Story_." She paused. "There's not much of a difference between either but…" she trailed off, laughing to herself.

"Well, it shouldn't take more than five minutes to finish," Brady remarked. "After that, you can watch whatever you want."

"No, no, go ahead." Cadence reached over the couch and grabbed a large binder that was stuffed to the brim from underneath the coffee table. She dropped it into her lap and ran her fingertip over the front, of a multitude of wedding venues, flower arrangements, and dresses shoved into the sleeve on the front. Most of them being pictures she'd cut out of magazines recently, while others had been collected over the years. "Besides, I've got to look over our neglected wedding plans. Mom's been asking me for an update and I've been putting her off. And there's all of the invoices that are staking up." Cadence shook her head. "It's going to take me forever."

Barry waved a hand. "Oh, I already finished."

Cadence's grasp tightened on her binder. Her head whipped up to study the side of Barry's face. "What?"

"Yeah." He nodded, eyes still on the flickering images onscreen. "I locked in a caterer, I got you your favorite flowers, I put a deposit on a venue with an amazing view. And I got that seven-tier raspberry chocolate cake."

"Wow, looks like you've got everything covered," Cadence said.

"So my lovely fiancée can remain stress free." He gave her a warm smile.

Cadence drummed her fingers on the front of the binder, pressing a little harder as each second passed. "Just one thing."

"What's that?"

"Conner's allergic to raspberries."

Barry hummed. His eyebrows came together as he took in her words. He hummed, shoulders slumping. "Okay. Well, the order wasn't put in too long ago, we can change it to something else. Maybe chocolate coffee?"

"What kid do you know likes coffee? Especially in a cake."

"So Brady's allergic to strawberries, Conner's allergic to raspberries." Barry counted off on his fingers, mouthing the words to him a few times, obviously trying to remember. He squeezed an eye shut, looking at her. "Are you allergic to anything, too?"

"I thought you knew everything about me," Cadence said flatly.

Barry looked at her for a moment. "I know you're mad at me," he said. Cadence pursed her lips. "I knew it. You're mad." He lifted the remote and turned off the TV. Turned to face her completely while she pulled her legs from his lap and dropped them to the floor. "Is this about the car thing? I already said I was sorry."

Cadence tried to keep her temper under control. But the second he mentioned her being mad, she felt it flow through her in, like molten lava rushing through to make it up through a volcano. Then again, how much longer was she able to hold back six months' worth of grief that she hadn't really been able to express before. Crying every now and then was one thing, being able to talk about it was a completely other thing.

She started off as calmly as she could, but heard the bite in her voice as she spoke. "It's not just about what happened with Chief Paulson and Alicia, Barry." Though that was a big part of it. Had it not been for Brady, they could've been killed. Something that clearly hadn't gotten past Brady as he was quick to report to her that morning that Alicia had been in class and, apart from being a little quieter than usual, was being herself. "You cancelled training without asking me! Without talking to me about it! When we _need _this training to get back to being a team."

"We _are _a team," Barry replied, desperation coming to his tone. He still smiled a little, though it was a confused smile. A smile plastered on his face as he tried to figure out what was going on and how everything blew up in his face within seconds of an innocent question being posed. "We don't need extended training sessions to be a team." He held up his hands. "I admit, it was my fault that I didn't listen to you about the car thing. I was just—"

"—Excited?" Cadence broke in. She got up from the couch and started to pace, unable to hold still. With as much enthusiastic energy she typically had, an off-shoot from her days as a cheerleader, Cadence was almost never able to hold still. This time that energy was going into her words rather than her movements. "Yeah, you mentioned that before."

"I didn't think cancelling training was a big deal."

Cadence jabbed at the binder on the floor with her index finger. Even from her angle, she could see a shimmer just above her fingertip, the tell-tale shimmer that a fire was about to burn above the appendage. "And you made all these wedding plans and didn't consult me on them, either! If you didn't say anything, you could've killed Connor."

'I was trying to be a good fiancé!" Barry stood as well. Spread his arms. Pleaded. "I'd think most brides would be happy that their future spouse cared about the wedding. And wanting to be a good father—step-father—to a young boy that's coming into the relationship. That is a good thing, right?"

"It is if we're on the same page."

Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess our wires have bene crossed a few times lately."

"Lately?"

Their wires had been crossed almost everywhere. When they went out into the field, it was hard work. Harder than it should have been. Cadence had fallen into her role as the leader in Barry's absence and still worked that way when they were handling something together. Whereas Barry continued to run in and get things done as quickly as possible. There were a few missions they'd come back from lately that had the rest of Team Flash looking everywhere but at the two, knowing how much they—lightly—bickered over what to do and who to use to stop the danger.

And while Barry didn't say anything, she knew he was dealing with the power struggle as well, his awkward response to Wally's following Cadence's suggestion rather than his aside.

"But I don't think that's brings us to a level of a crisis. I mean, you and I? We're the gold standard."

Cadence snorted. "You can say that with a straight face?"

Finally, Barry frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You left!" Cadence finally exploded. Her voice came with so much vehemence that it made Barry take a step back. "You left all of us! To figure out what to do after you were gone! It's like the football team losing the quarterback without a backup! What does a team do after that?"

"You told me to leave!" Barry shot back.

"Of course I did! Did you see how many people were getting hurt because of the lightning being thrown around?" The fear that'd filled her chest was palpable as she watched the lightning storm brew around the apartment. Winced each time the window became illuminated with each lightning bolt. Could still feel the wooden floor rumbling under foot with each accompanying boom of thunder. Could still see the red and yellow lightning fry everything in its path, lightning it up in seconds before leaving it a burning husk.

Remembered it all, remembered Barry walking into the Speed Force after and, unfortunately, remembered all their loses since he'd left.

"You're mad about that?"

"I'm not mad that you left, I'm not mad that you left me." He looked relieved. It was crushed when she said, "I'm _mad_ that you come back and you're acting like everything is _exactly the same! _But it's not! We're not the same people, Barry. We're not the same team. If we were, I'm sure we would've killed each other by now." She paused. "At least Cisco and I would've."

"I know that!" Barry cried back. "I know everything's not the same. Six months have passed, Cade. I've come back to a city that's moved on without me! Without the Flash! I missed everything! I missed, I missed our wedding plans! I missed people responding to it! I missed Joe and Cecile's relationship getting stronger. I missed Iris's newspaper articles starting to get awards!" He started to pace. "I missed Wally handling things on his own! I missed training Brady and Leah, and Cisco and Wally. I missed Brady starting school. I missed going to get school supplies with him and helping him with projects and…and being there for him. And you! And I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry." He opened and closed his mouth a few times. "And I don't know what else to do other than pretend everything is oaky. So tell me, what else do you want me to do?"

"For starters, you can stop acting like all of this is on you! This isn't about you, Barry! It's not even about us, it's about everything! The team, Central City! Meta-humans are going into hiding now more than ever because of Lex Luthor and you're acting like everything is fine! You won't even tell us what happened when you in the Speed Force!"

"Because I _can't" _His voice broke with emotion. "I can't say what's been going on. Every time I try…gibberish comes out. Something happened to me in the Speed Force, I…I can't even begin to imagine telling you what it was! It was a prison, just like Wally and Jay said. Only that I was stuck in there longer than they were and when I come back out things have changed and it's like none of you care."

"If we didn't care, we wouldn't have tried so hard to get you out."

"You didn't try to get me out until Cisco mentioned he knew a way how."

"You kept telling me to move forward," Cadence reminded him. Her eyes narrowed. "To keep running. And I did that. And it sucked, but I kept moving forward. Because I knew you wanted me to. Did you think I would just sit back and let things happen? I had a city to keep safe and I worked hard at it."

"Worked hard not to think about me, you mean?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means, Cade, that you've barely looked at me since I got back!" Cadence's eyes shifted. Had it really been that obvious? It wasn't like he could expect things to get straight back to normal after they'd gotten used to him being gone? How easily were they supposed to get used to it when he was back? They had to structure their lives around it as they had to structure their lives over him when he was gone. Nevertheless, she worked to keep a straight face. "It's like you don't even love me anymore."

"Excuse me?"

"You hardly talk to me and when you do, it's like you're treating me like I'm a child. Like I can't do anything right and I have to be watched all the time."

"Well, you did almost get Chief Paulson and Alicia killed."

"I already apologized for that!"

"You didn't apologize, you blew it off! You acted like nothing happened. Just like you're acting with all of this!" Cadence and Barry were in each other's faces by that point, shouting at the top of their lungs. "But things happened while you were gone, Barry! And we're all still dealing with it!"

The two stood close to each other, anger and frustration palpable in their stances and within their powers showing off around them. Steam poured from Cadence's ears, milling around them, the outside temperature matching the internal temperature of their argument. The internal temperature of what they'd been holding back. Lightning crackled at Barry's fingertips. Together a storm would've brewed through the apartment.

Their eyes bored into each other, waiting for each other to be the first to step past the fracture between them, sooth the friction that had been there longer than either of them had noticed. Nevertheless, they were still a unified front. Because they moved at the same time, the same thing on their minds.

Their lips crashed against each other's in a powerful kiss, much more so than their reunion one. That one had been tender and desperate, excitement that they were able to finally, finally see each other again. Where Cadence saw her fiancé for the first time in six months and was more excited than excited while Barry was able to see the love of his life without having to then see her die over and over again. This kiss was different. There was much more passion than this time around, pent up anger, frustration, misery, and tension that hadn't had been spoken before then.

Cadence couldn't help but smile, feeling the familiar tingle of their powers joining together when he grasped her neck, parting his lips to take in a shuddering breath before their lips crashed together once more. Whatever was broken between them was slowly mending, the spark between their fingertips the sure sign. Much stronger than it had been before, a lifeline, the lightning rod that grounded them. Barry tightened his grasp against her neck, desperate to hold on. Anchored himself to her, holding on as tightly as he had when she took him out of the Speed Force. She was his lightning rod and always would be.

There was a second where the world zoomed around her, where Cadence became disoriented, delirious with the kisses they traded, grasping desperately to him, feeling him, had to know he was there. It took a second before she realized he'd raced them from the living room and up to their bedroom. She could only focus on the way he felt against her, how right it was.

How much of an empty void it filled.

Hands cradling her neck, Barry pressed her back to the wall of their bedroom, kicking off his shoes as he did so. His fingers descended the back of her neck, smoothing down her shoulders and arms to curl around her waist, pulling her flush against him, all the while Cadence clutched tightly to him, allowing herself to be drowned in his kisses, of the rough merges that bruised her lips.

She grasped his elbows before using her enhanced strength to turn them around, backing towards the bed until they fell into it. Though the speed of their kisses petered out, their lips worked over each other's massaging gently as they relaxed against each other. Became used to each other being there again, holding tightly to ensure they wouldn't disappear but gentle enough to show the love they still held for each other.

Cadence's hands rested on Barry's chest, smoothing her fingers over the fabric that kept his chest from her. Something that barely remained as she burned it within seconds, making him yelp in surprise before she pulled him back to her, smothering his cry of surprise with another kiss and a swipe of her tongue over his lips. She barely concentrated on it, her senses flooded by the barrage of kisses they shared, drowning in all her senses, enhancing every touch, every stroke against her skin that sent goosebumps shoot up and down her spine.

Every now and then his lips would leave hers to blaze a path down her neck, from her earlobe to her chest before finding its way back to her lips. Cadence parted her lips letting his moans become engulfed by her mouth. She didn't need to work hard to match his eagerness to be as close as possible to him. He was home. He was there. He was hers. There was nothing that would break them apart again.

Nothing that she'd allow to do so.

She responded to his touch, slowly yet surely losing control on her powers as she did so, the warming temperature of the room causing sweat to appear over their skin. Their smooth movements turning clumsy, moving over their slick, sweaty skin, exposed as they rapidly removed each other's clothes, desperate to be as close to each other as possible. Until Barry found himself at an end pass, hand desperately spidering up her back.

Cadence chuckled. "You've been gone in the Speed Force so long that you can't figure out how to open a bra?"

Barry lifted his head and glared at her. In a flash, he rid her of the offending object and pulled her back into his arms, burying his face into her neck, breathing deeply to take in her scent. Cadence drew her fingertip down the lightning infused scar on his chest, it seemed to glow beneath his skin from her touch. She traced his stomach, leaving a burning trail around each of his abs before drawing a figure eight around his bellybutton.

Within seconds, Barry started to rapidly vibrate, the sensation beneath her hands making Cadence burst out into hysterical laughter that was only cut off when Barry—with an expression that was a mixture of embarrassment and disgruntlement that always appeared when she teased him for it—shifted his hand and surprised her, slipping his fingers into her.

"Barry," Cadence groaned, grasping his shoulders tightly before moving to drag down Barry's back, creating wounds that instantly healed amongst his twisting fingers within her.

She rested her forehead against his shoulder, holding him as tightly as she could, but didn't lose control, knew how easy it would've been to crush him if she were to lose control. Just as she'd done before, the reminder haunting her more than any of the deaths she'd been contracted her. No, she was in control this time, in as much as she could be from how good he was making her feel.

Six months in the Speed Force had done nothing to what he was able to do to her. Cadence pinned her legs together when she reached her peak, keeping his hand from moving any further. Barry looked at her in confusion before she placed her foot on his chest, pushing him back from her, used a flick to knock him over then climbed atop of him, smothering him with an even more passionate kiss. Once. Twice. Three times. Desperate to let everything out. Her nails raked over his thigs when she grabbed the waistband of his underwear and practically ripped them down.

Barry gaped up at her, watched as her orange-red eyes—which would've been demonic in any other scenario—roved over his body, making fire set up camp in his chest before burning through the rest of his body. Ragged breaths escaped her lips, only stopping between each kiss up his hips, his stomach, his chest, being sure to trace the length of his scar, up his neck, where she grabbed his jaw in her hand and turned his head aside, dragging her tongue along the shell of his ear. Barry felt a crick in his neck when she forced his head back and smothered him in more kisses, laying down to mold her body against his, throwing her leg around his waist to straddle him.

Cadence grasped his face once more; fingers digging into his cheeks. Her eyes bore into his. "Don't you ever leave again," she murmured, all but growled. "Promise."

A demand, not a question.

Barry nodded, wet his lips with his tongue. "Promise," he said hoarsely, then gasped, feeling her sink onto him. A wince of passion swept across his face, accompanying the groan he couldn't hold back, eyes fluttering shut. Cadence leaned down so her face hovered over his, her hair a curtain around his face, hot breath washing over him. They watched each other for a few moments, her rolling hips made his body undulate against the springs of the bed. Before he reached up and grabbed her, palms sliding down her sweat-slicked skin and before resting on her bare hips. His lower body arched, moving along with her riding him.

He reached up and tangled his hand into her hair, pulling her head back until her chin was raised, forcing her to look down at him. She rolled her hips harder, clenching her jaw. He moved against her, making himself fill her with each thrust forward, painfully grasping her hip with his free hand, holding her firmly, digging his fingers into her skin and bone. Cadence pressed one hand down to Barry's chest, fingers splaying across his skin, the other painfully grasping his bent knee, steadying herself.

She grinded over his lap, rolling his hips, riding him hard. Her eyes shut at the same time as Barry's. "Cade," he murmured, grunted, moaned until his passion unleased inside her. She aggressively continued to ride him until she came hard, quaking around him, collapsing against his chest.

Their heavy breathing slowly petered out, Cadence rolled off him and onto her side, pulling their blankets tight around her. Now that the passion had subside, a chill blew over her sweaty skin. Barry shifted under the sheets next to her, dropping his head back to his pillow, stared up at the ceiling. The scar on his chest no longer glowed, but rose and fell with each of his breaths. The bruises on each of their skin slowly healed.

Just as their wounds healed.

The fracture closed.

Barry was the first to break the silence, his voice small, as if afraid she'd lash out once more. "I don't know why I thought we didn't have to talk about what happened," he murmured, drawing circles on her bare back. "You were happy I was back."

"I am happy," Cadence said. It wasn't and admission. It wasn't something she worked to hide. It was something she waited six long months for. Everything else, somehow, had shadowed it's importance of that. "You're everything to me."

Barry nodded. "Other than Brady."

"Other than Brady," she agreed with a smile. Then she leaned up, resting her cheek in an upraised palm. She looked down at Barry, gently stroking his chest with her free hand. "It was hard," she admitted. "I had to explain why everyone had a save the date but no invitation." Barry hummed. "I had to lie about why you were gone. And the looks people gave me because they knew it wasn't true?" Her eyes narrowed, pain blooming in her chest as she, finally, admitted the true source of her anger. "It was like they weren't seeing me, they were seeing the _pregnant _me. I got the same looks of pity and disgust that I got when people found out I was pregnant. And, believe me, it's not a good feeling. I'm twenty…" she trailed off, thinking. "Something,"—Barry chuckled—"and it was like they turned me back into the same sixteen year old girl who was kicked out of school, shamed, ridiculed, and made a point of what other girls shouldn't be. And it made them wonder what they thought about us, and me."

Barry reached up a hand, stroking Cadence's fallen hair out of her face and behind her ear. "It's not like I wanted to leave you all. You know that. I had to put on a brave face for everyone but it _killed_ me." He swallowed hard. "And I was afraid. I was afraid you'd tell me to stay and I wouldn't have been strong enough not to."

A sad smile came to Cadence's face. "I wouldn't have done that." She wouldn't have been able to live with herself had she been so selfish. So, right from the very beginning, she told him to go. He had to. It was one thing to want to keep her son safe, it was another to know her fiancé was as much of a hero and try to hold him back. When things were that dangerous? She'd just as soon through herself into the Speed Force even if it would've torn her apart and thrown her back out, than have him sacrifice himself.

"I know."

"But you didn't ask. How would you know if you don't ask? You know I'm there for you. Especially when everything seems lost, but you have to let me."

Barry shook his head. Looked toward the ceiling. "Sometimes it's not about us or the team," he explained. "Sometimes the weight of the whole city falls on my shoulders." He shook his head harder. "Not sometimes, all the time." He brought his hand back to rest behind his head. Tightened his grasp on his hair. "And it's up to me to carry it. _I'm _the Flash."

"That's what you don't get, Barry." Cadence made sure he was looking at her, paying attention. "What does the sign say when you come into Central City?" She didn't wait for his response. "Home of The Flash _and _Flare." She lifted her left hand, wiggling her ring finger. "When i put this ring on my finger it wasn't about you or me anymore. It was never about you. It was about us. Because I'm your partner Barry. I always have been. And I always will be. This isn't your burden to bear. It's ours. It's the team's."

"I know," Barry replied. His voice was quiet again. "I know that now." He smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

She placed a sweet kiss on his lips and snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest. Barry wrapped his arms around her and held her as tightly as she held him.

Daring anything to tear them apart again.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, that was a nice chapter for Barry and Cadence, they got through a lot of angst and problems that had been bubbling up through the first eleven chapters of the story. I also really enjoy writing Cadence's and Cisco's friendship in this season and how it is compared to the previous seasons. Next chapter is filled with a lot of action. And, DarkHelm, it starts off Black Blade's and Brady's story plot so I hope I do Black Blade justice for you.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I certainly did while writing it and reading it all over again. Please let me know what you think! :)

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Nothing's going to happen to Maya. I've already killed off Kent (which I regret, honestly), I can't have Maya go, too. Just as the same, nothing will happen with Harrison or Tess. Maya will always be part of Cadence's and Brady's life. It wasn't just that she had breakfast plans with Mallory, it was that she was going to see Frankie's foster parents as well. If he knew what she was going to do, he would've stopped her. The part with Brady and Bronze Tiger was all the way back from _Flash Fire. _A good way to show how much he's grown since story 1/season 1. But now, he's really struggling with his human part and meta part. Chief Paulson's and Alicia's relationship is interesting and will be seen more as the story goes on.


	14. Magic Is In The Air (1)

**13**

_Magic Is In The Air_

* * *

Barry rubbed the back of his neck, stretching the strained muscles as he stood from the floor, twirling a screwdriver in his hand. He tilted his head, spitting a screw from the corner of his mouth into his palm. "Okay, now where's this going to go?"

His voice was quiet, scratch with sleep, surveying the mess he'd made. At least, he'd been trying to fix it up, but there was truth in what people said about leaving things to professionals. He never would've let someone off the street do his job, he never should've taken on something like that. Even as a speedster, he wasn't quite sure if his speed actually managed to help things or hurt things even further.

Barry scratched his hairline with the pointed end of the screwdriver, twisting his mouth as he surveyed the lamp table he'd put back together. Superspeed and all the instructions in the world and he still couldn't quite figure out where one last screw went?

"What's the point of having super speed if you can't build furniture?" He muttered to himself. Leaning aside, he picked up the instructions and turned it this way and that, eyebrows pinching together. "I knew I shouldn't have gone to Ikea." And to think, he thought everyone was joking when they said Ikea furniture was hard to put together.

"The big bad Barry Allen can't figure out how to put a simple table together?" Savitar drawled, leaning against the wall behind Barry. His arms were folded, feet crossed at the ankle. He tilted his head, watching Barry's movements with an uninterested and equally amused eye. "And I thought you were smart."

Barry sighed heavily, turning back toward Savitar. "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?"

Savitar spread his hands. "I don't know if I can help you. I'm not supposed to be here, remember?" He pressed a finger to his cheek. "Now, if only we could figure out a way where I can get _back_ into the Speed Force. That hell hole is much better than the one I'm stuck with here."

"Look." Barry placed his hands on his hips. "Until we figure out what's going on with this, and the Speed Force, it looks like you're stuck here." Especially if he couldn't quite explain to his friends what was going on. They heard nothing but gibberish when he tried. He'd suggest getting his head checked out in the Medical Bay but was never sure if it was his mind or Savitar's mind that would be scanned. Let alone, the more horrifying thought, were their minds connected?

He and Savitar hadn't done a mind-meld, not like he and Earth-2 Barry had, not like Cadence and Burnout had. But Savitar was the version of Barry that was in the original timeline that no longer existed, what was making it so that Savitar was able to leave the Speed Force with Barry? The Quark Sphere had latched onto his particular particles, and if Savitar was that…?

Barry shook his head, unable to think about it without his head hurting. All he knew was Savitar had made his life hell in the past year and however much time had passed for them in the Speed Force, and, somehow, they had to find a way to get him back inside. Barry turned away and added under his breath, "It'd be nice if I didn't have to be reminded of it all the time."

"I heard that."

Barry sighed heavily, ignoring Savitar. He'd gotten so used to him being around by that point that he hardly responded to his presence or his comments. There were many times that Savitar didn't appear, that would make it so that Barry would feel a sense of hope. That, finally, his life was getting back on track. Then Savitar would rear his ugly head once more and they'd continue to get stuck in the limbo of traded barbs and working to figure out what to do next.

If there _was _anything they could do.

"Whoa!"

Barry looked over his shoulder to see Cadence stepping off the last step that led to the living room. She scanned the mess on the floor, trailing from the broken vases and flowers festooned on the coffee table and the floor, to the haphazard and broken glass of the photographs lined up along the counter by the front door. She hugged her gym bag closer to her side, eyes locking onto Barry, who waved the screwdriver at her in greeting.

"Did we do this?" She asked.

Barry shrugged, unable to keep a smug smile from his face. "Well, it's not quite a straight path to our room."

Cadence laughed quietly. It faded as she walked closer to her fiancé, eyeing the screwdriver in his hand. Then the mess on the floor, then back to him. Nervousness flashed over her face. "Uh…are you trying to fix things?"

"Yeah. I popped over to Ikea to get a replacement end table and figured I'd try to set it up." He waved the instructions in his hand and smiled sheepishly. "Guess it didn't work out too well, I can't figure out where this last screw goes."

"Well, until then, I wouldn't put anything on that table."

"Gee, thanks."

"You know the water pressure in our kitchen faucet hadn't been the same since you tried to fix it. I don't think reading about plumbing and putting it to your short-term memory makes you an expert."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"Especially cause I kept telling you that you weren't keeping in mind the bend in the pipes, but…" she held up her hands. "What do I know?"

"Not much more than me."

Cadence elbowed him in the side then looked over at the sound of banging in the kitchen and leaned over. "Everything alright in there?" she asked.

"Everything's fine, mom," Brady replied. He turned from the skillet with a spatula in hand, carefully lifting a pancake to a plate Connor was holding out. "Just finishing up breakfast." Connor took the plate and placed it on the table, along with the other silverware that'd been set up.

"Everything looks really good, Brady," Barry said, looking over the spread. Suddenly feeling very hungry. How did looking over instructions for putting together a simple table make him so hungry? It was probably the exertion of arranging and re-arranging the table due to missing pieces and leftovers that threatened to make the whole thing collapse.

Silence stretched between the two as Connor continued to carefully bring the plates to and from the counter. Barry glanced at Cadence, who pursed her lips, eyes turning steely.

"Brady." Cadence folded her arms, looking sternly at her son. "Barry's talking to you."

"Sorry." Brady lifted his chin, looking Barry in the eye. "I thought it was just static." Brady snapped the tongs together to emphasize his sentence. He turned when he heard a knock on the door and pointed with the extension to his hand. "Connor! Door!"

"Brady!" Connor shot him the middle finger, making Brady laugh quietly.

"I'm sorry." Barry looked over to see Cadence standing by his side, as if having suddenly teleported there. He wouldn't have put it past her. The only time they almost exclusively used their powers was around the loft. Though he always found teleporting from two feet away to be a bit overkill…especially after the previous Halloween where she kept scaring him half to death "I really don't know what to do about him."

"It's alright." Barry shrugged. He turned away to toss the screwdriver back into the tool box. An excuse so that she didn't see the swirling disappointment and hurt in his eyes. "I get it."

He did get it. He was gone for a long time and Brady was still feeling that pain. He just didn't understand why it was lasting so long and why Brady was being so vehement about it. Brady'd been happy to see Barry back out of the speed force, had been the once to knock some sense into him—literally—when they finally got him out then quickly cooled off right after. Barry couldn't remember many of the conversations they'd have within the last three weeks that didn't have a sarcastic edge to the young boy's tone.

What could've made it so that he was able to flip on a dime so easily.

"No, Barry, it's not okay," Cadence insisted.

"He's mad," Barry reminded her. "Probably about the same thing you were. I get it. But…" he shrugged once more, folding his arms. "At least we made up." Cadence lifted an eyebrow. "Sort of. Look, I know there's still a lot we need to talk about, but at least we're on the same side. I'm afraid to go to sleep in case Brady decides he suddenly wants to play Whack-A-Mole."

Cadence tried and failed to keep form giggling in amusement. "That's not funny," she said, despite the smile on her face.

"It's a little funny," he denied.

"Dad?"

Eyebrows lifting, Barry turned at the sound of Connor's quiet question, and met Oliver Queen's gaze through the open door of the loft. Connor backed away, dropping his hand from the doorknob as he did so, almost as if he'd been burnt. He glanced at Barry and Cadence and took another step back from Oliver.

It at least gave Oliver space to step into the loft, closing the door behind him. "Hey buddy," he greeted Connor, speaking quietly. A voice much different than the 'Oliver-Queen-Arrow' voice. A voice of a man who was gratefully, yet hesitant to see his son again. Barry's eyebrows furrowed. So there was something else he missed…

A lot of that was going around.

Oliver looked up and blinked in surprise, seeing Barry cross the apartment to reach him. So surprised that he wasn't able to keep the speedster from getting in a quick hug, arms pinned to his sides, before Barry stepped back. Nevertheless, Oliver smiled an honest smile at Barry, happy to see him.

"Last I heard, you were on a long sabbatical," Oliver remarked, his smile turning wry. He folded his arms, taking on that familiar 'Oliver Queen' stance that many duplicated but could never replicate. Where he always meant business and was always the strong man in the room. "I knew that wasn't true the second I was told, but it does sound a lot better than prison."

"Believe me, this prison you don't ever want to experience," Barry agreed. He could practically feel Savitar's stare burning a hole in the back of his head. "Not unless you want to see the worst thing that ever happened to you play out time and time again as a strange form of therapy."

Oliver licked his lips. "Well, I have a lot of moments in life to choose from, I don't think any of them would be much less traumatizing than the others," he remarked. Finally, he cleared his throat and momentarily glanced at his feet. "I'm sorry for keeping you from breakfast, but I had some time and I was hoping I'd be able to see Connor."

"Why?"

Barry looked over his shoulder, surprised to find how steely Cadence's face had become once more. This time, however, her gaze was planted firmly on Oliver. Barry looked back and forth between them, unsure of what was going to come next. A little scared, honestly. Oliver was already an imposing man before getting stuck in Lian Yu, Barry had seen more than enough finance magazine covers and socialite photo shoots that covered the magazines in the waiting room of Iron Heights to recognize Oliver before having met him. Seeing him as the Arrow, the Green Arrow, made it easier for Barry to see where he channeled all the darkness and pain that'd encompassed him.

It, sometimes, surprised him to see how much darkness was held within Cadence as well, she radiated so much light and warmth, making it difficult to believe she'd done anything with the Assassination Bureau, becoming a pawn in their game. But seeing the way they looked at each other, something was off between them.

Oliver paused for a moment. Spoke slowly. "Because I haven't seen him in a while, and I'd like to see how he's doing."

"I'm not keeping you from him, Oliver, you had plenty of time to come see him before now."

"Well, considering I've got half the city convinced I'm the Green Arrow and that I should be impeached, that was a little more pressing." Oliver noticed Cadence's eyebrow raise and continued, voice turning gruff. Almost 'Arrow' gruff. "There was already a disagreement with the citizens of me becoming the Mayor, you know what happened with Damien Darkh, and I couldn't have that happen again."

"Wait a second," Barry broke in. "They know you're the Green Arrow?"

Oliver cast a glance at him but didn't respond. Instead, he continued speaking to Cadence. "I couldn't, in good conscience, keep him where he was and not worry about him. Not worry that someone else was going to target him to get to me."

"Oliver, I'm telling you this as your friend," Cadence said slowly. "He can't go back with you. _Shouldn't _go back with you."

Oliver briefly closed his eyes. Sucked a breath in through his nose. Let it out. Opened his eyes. "I know you're angry about what happened with Sam, Cadence, but Connor needs me."

"What happened to Sam?" Barry asked.

"He needed you from the beginning and you sent him here," Cadence continued.

"I asked if you would take care of him. And you did that. It wasn't safe for him in Star City."

"It wasn't safe for him around you! Star City is just fine, it's your constantly making Arrow decisiosn before you think about him. He was being raised by Raisa. You weren't there!"

"And are you so sure that Brady's safe around _you_? With everything that's been going on? With your powers and his and how often you put him in the line of fire. You think Brady's safer with you than, say, Ryder, who doesn't wat much to do with any of this?"

"What Ryder does and doesn't want, I at least have him around to get his input before we make a decision. He doesn't like that Brady goes out there, no, but he at least understands why he does. That's a lot more than I can say about Sam or Thea."

Oliver's eyes flashed. He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a quiet but firm, "Stop," from Connor, who'd been standing quietly nearby the whole time. He looked at the two with an expression of disappointment that, usually, only a parent could muster. Clearly, Barry realized, he'd been in the middle of the conversation numerous times before. "Would you stop?" He started to say something else then stopped. Took a deep breath and let it out. "Can we just…" He clenched his hands into fists, brought them up by the side of his head then dropped them. "Can we just go to school?" He picked up his nearby backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Brady, who'd watched the entire interaction with wide eyes, only managed to ask, "What about breakfast?" before Connor's glare shut him up and he turned off all the burners before following his lead to take his backpack and swoop toward the door, calling goodbye to his mother as he went.

Cadence sighed firmly, looked at her feet. "I have to go to work," she finally said, lifting her gaze toward Oliver. He stared back at her, a look that was half between a glare and something Barry hadn't seen very much of before; begrudging acceptance. "We can talk about this later."

Oliver tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling as the door closed behind the fire metahuman, who left in a hurry, yanking her gym bag behind her as she went. Barry watched Oliver for a minute then said, "I guess I really did miss a lot."

"Mhm," Oliver agreed. He lowered his chin then looked at Barry, _really _looked at him. "How are you, Barry? I mean, really? You've been in this…prison, and you come out of it smiling as if nothing's been going on?"

"Yeah, I don't know." Barry mimicked Oliver, folding his arms. "After everything I've seen, knowing what's coming up, know what's out here waiting for me…it's hard not to be positive about that. Yeah, it's hard having to catch up on things but…" he feebly gestured towards Oliver. "You get that. I mean…you know what it's like. There must've been something you liked about coming off that island, other coming off the island, I mean."

A small smile came to Oliver's face. A genuine one. "Seeing everyone again," he admitted. "Seeing Thea, so grown up, getting in trouble with Tommy…it was like…nothing changed. Like everything I saw on the island was a dream." His smile faded and he reached up to wipe a hand over his face. "Then…I figured out everything with Merlyn and there was the list and…I met Diggle and Felicity…"

"And me," Barry added.

"And you." Oliver shook his head. "I should've known my life wasn't going to get back to normal when I met you." The two laughed.

Barry gestured over his shoulder, "Did you…did you want some breakfast or something? I mean, you came all the way form Star City. I could just run you back, but you must be tired after that long drive."

Oliver nodded. "I could eat," he agreed. He peered around Barry at the table that was set up. "Looks like you've got a lot to choose from." Barry led the way to the table and sat, motioning for Oliver to take a plate before Barry took one himself. He glanced around at the other cooling plates on the table and with a burst of speed, lined them up on his. "You know, I'm starting to wonder the same thing Diggle was asking about the first time you met. You eat so much so fast, I can't imagine what your bathroom habits are like." Barry made a face over the first bite of pancakes. Oliver grinned. "This is actually, really good."

"Yeah, Brady's a great cook," Barry agreed.

Oliver nodded once, twice. He slowly chewed his bite of pancake, as if pondering something. Then he lowered his chin and said, "You two aren't getting along, are you?"

Barry's eyes widened in surprise. "How could you tell?"

"He was quick to say 'bye' to Cadence, but he didn't say much of anything to you. I don't mean to pry, and as you can see it's really not my area of expertise, but…it kind of seems like—"

"—Like, to him, I don't exist?" Barry broke in. Oliver nodded. "I may as well not. He doesn't say much to me unless it's a thinly veiled jab at me. And even then, most of the time it's not thinly veiled." He twisted his mouth to the side. "I don't know, man. I don't have much expertise in this area of things, I don't know if I should try harder or back off. Half the time I don't even know if I want to say anything to him before I know it's coming. I don't suppose you have any experience in this, either."

"Mmm." Oliver thought for a moment. "Maybe a little. When I found out my mom was with Walter. In a way, I thought she was forgetting about dad. He died on that boat for me, and she went and married someone else. In my head, she didn't give much thought to my dad maybe still being alive. I thought she was trying to do everything but think about him. And that made me angry. It took me a long time to understand that my mom knew he would've preferred she moved on and not stuck around for him. That he wouldn't have blamed her."

"But I'm not dead, and Cade's not dead. We're still together, we're still going to get married."

"Right, but you still left. You were gone for six months, as far as he knew, you were dead. Have you asked him, what he thought while you were gone? What he went through?"

Barry shook his head. "I guess I never really thought to ask. I mean…" he tried not to let his breath catch in his throat, his pain manifest as an image of his father behind bars appeared in his head. Even in that image, no matter what, his father was smiling. Somehow, even when in one of the worst places on Earth, he smiled as if he was the personification of the sun whenever he saw Barry on the other side of the glass partition. "When my dad was in prison, he never asked me what I was thinking about, with him being gone. I'd talk about it, all the time. I always told him I'd find a way to get him out of prison and he'd change the subject and ask how school was going, how I was doing. He didn't want me to think about it."

"Brady's not your dad."

_Not entirely, _Barry thought. He saw a lot of things within Brady that reminded him of his father. Mostly, his curious nature, asking questions at every turn. Something his father had encouraged in the young boy. His wide-eyed wonder and excitement about everything that came his way. He shook his head, changing the subject, or else Oliver had. Asking about the Speed Force and Barry explained the best that he could so Oliver would understand. Tried his hardest to explain everything with Savitar, the longest way around without going into the same frantic details he'd tried before, spurting out nothing but gibberish. Instead, he explained there was something about it he couldn't quite understand and didn't know where to turn to for answers.

"You said it was a Speed Force prison?" Oliver said slowly. Barry nodded. "And only speedsters can go in? Then the answers right in front of you, you need to talk to a speedster."

"'I tired that already. I tried to tell Wally about it, and he couldn't understand me."

"Then, maybe, you need to find a speedster who's been in there about as long as you have."

Barry nodded, slowly perking up. He glanced at the time, chewing his lower lip, wondered how long it'd take to run to Earth-3, and if he'd be late for another day of work.

He needed to talk to Jay.

* * *

"I kind of want to skip school today."

Brady lifted his chin in surprise, looking at Connor out the corner of his eye before stopping at the crosswalk. He watched as the white palm turned to a red running man before he faced his best friend, who appeared more miserable he'd ever seen. "_You _want to skip school? You love school. If it were possible, you'd marry it." He shrugged. "I'm sure Leah would be upset, but I think you and school would make a cute couple."

Brady grinned at his joke while Connor managed a small twitch of the side of his mouth, an eerily similar smile to one that Oliver could give at times. "I just don't feel like going," Connor said. He scrunched his nose, brushing it with his shoulder as he shrugged. "I don't…" he briefly closed his eyes and turned away.

Brady didn't have to ask what Connor was thinking about. He'd seen the way his best friend's face paled when seeing Oliver for the first time in…about the same amount of time that Brady hadn't seen Oliver, Brady realized. Thankfully, he didn't have as many bad dreams as Connor did. Didn't have to dream about seeing his mom dying in front of him, he'd lived it—though was that Burnout, not his mom—didn't have to wonder if his mom was a hero or villain, he fought alongside her and knew the hero side to be true, didn't see her as a completely despicable woman because…she'd never sent him away.

They'd talked about it a little, the first night Connor had stayed at the apartment, of how confused he was for having been sent away. Talked about what Damien Darkh had done to him, and what Adrian Chase then wanted with him. Talked about how he'd been ripped away from his mom after they'd spent a night out at a dinner and movie. How he'd been held captive on a boat for God knew how long until Oliver finally got to him. How Connor saw Adrian Chase stick a gun against his head and shot his brains out.

It was one thing to work against metahumans, trying to take as many of them down to be thrown into the Pipeline or Iron Heights, but they had powers to keep from being killed. _Not that Geomancer didn't try to kill you, _Brady reminded himself. _Or Breathtaker, Bronze Tiger…_the list of people not caring that he was a kid and still worked to kill him was getting unsettlingly long.

"Okay, so we won't go," Brady replied. He pulled his phone from his pocket and started to compose a text. "Um…I'll just tell dad to make an excuse for us." He shrugged. "He'll come up with something."

Connor looked skeptical. "Do you really think your dad'll lie to your mom like that?"

"If he's not afraid for his life, sure." Brady finished the text and replaced his phone in his pocket. He looked around the bustling sidewalk and grabbed the straps of his backpack. "Cool! Day off, what do you want to do?"

"Umm." Connor turned in a quick circle, checking for cars before they crossed the street. "I don't know, I didn't think you'd agree with me." He smiled a little. "Honestly, I'm waiting for the police to chase us down or something."

"They wouldn't do that. People play hooky all the time!"

"Yeah, but your mom works for the police. And so does Barry. And so does Joe."

Brady frowned, suddenly concerned with how many people they knew that worked with the CCPD. Even Patty had been part of the CCPD once upon a time, even though they weren't even _that _close. And, apparently, Iris had wanted to join the CCPD at one point, with her investigative journalistic skills, she was at the CCPD a lot—her connection with Joe and Barry aside. "Okay…maybe we should stay away from there for a while."

"Let's go play a game of soccer then," Connor suggested.

Brady nodded in agreement and the two headed towards Central City Park. They got halfway there, coming upon Central City Pier first. Though Central City was landlocked, the Gardner River gave it the illusion of being a beach town. The pier had a boardwalk that stretched close to a mile along the coast of the river, with jetties extending out over the water so fishermen could cast their lines and waste the day away.

It was on that pier that they noticed the large crowd of people gathered around something. Usually it was the old Ferris wheel or the House of Mirrors that held the attention of those that went to the pier. But something else had grabbed the attention of a large crowd. The rides and attractions had closed for the season, while some of the food stalls stayed open. There were clusters of families and friends, enjoying a rare day without something trying to kill them.

Curious, they headed toward the group, passing by a few anti-meta protestors who shouted and passed out flyers as they went. Brady waved one off, keeping his eyes straight ahead. His heart rate increased, hearing the pure hatred that shot from their mouth as they passed. He glanced at the flyer, seeing Lex Luthor's name attached and made a mental note to ask his mom, Harrison, or Tess about it later. Even Maya was a good option, she really seemed to be around now that she was looking to move from Metropolis.

Brady looked over as Connor hesitated, closely watching the group of anti-meta protestors. "Maybe we should head back," he said slowly. His hands twitched at his sides, as if itching to go into the app he'd created, to scan the area for any metas. Either that or he was feeling residual frustration from seeing his father earlier that morning.

"They don't know I'm a meta," Brady reassured him. "We're fine."

"Maybe we should hide out at STAR Labs?"

"And have Uncle Cisco call my mom or Barry? Forget it." They nudged their way forward. "And, if Oliver's still here, you'd have to see him again, too." Selfishly, Brady didn't think that was too bad of a thing, he hadn't had a good training session with Oliver in a while. Not that his mother was a slouch in the training department, there were many times he wondered if it was a sort of abuse of how much and how hard she trained him over the last six months, but Oliver was the one who first really, properly trained him and knew how his fighting style worked.

Connor frowned and nodded. He perked up the further they got from the anti-meta group and closer to the crowd. Leaning to the side, he managed to peer through a split in the group and pointed. "Look! A magician!"

The two went closer to the group of about twenty people gathered around a man standing atop a bench. He was a tall, handsome man, with a goatee that was perfectly coifed. A darker color compared to his white, white hair. He wore a black tuxedo with a white shirt dress, hair perfectly styled as if ready for a special dinner rather than a show for a bunch of families.

"Gather round, gather round, prepare to be amazed," the man called in a low, confident tone. His eyes, piercing, swept over the group, one hand pressed lightly to his chest. When he was sure he had everyone's attention he continued. "I hope not to take up too much of your time, I understand how valuable it is." His eyes flashed over the group as he spoke. "So, let's get this party started." He started to turn, chuckling to himself. "I promise my tricks are better than my jokes."

He reached into his coat pocket and whipped out a wand. As he did so, a bouquet of flowers shot out from the front and careened toward a young woman in the front. She shrieked in surprised, catching the bouquet against her chest.

There was a light smattering of applause, from the young children at the front, younger than Brady and Connor, who's eyes widened in surprise. The man smiled even wider. "I think I'm a little old for you, but I hope you enjoy the flowers," he remarked, making some people laugh quietly, waiting for the next trick. "I promise there's no water in them." The young woman smiled and brought the flowers to her face to smell, then shrieked once more when a stream of water shot out and struck her in the face. Water dripped off her chin and onto the front of her blouse, as blue as her blue eyes. "Oops, maybe forgot to take it out of them one."

Another laugh.

"Let's try to warm you up a bit then." The man tapped his wand against his head, then thrust out his empty hand. A gout of flames spurted out with a roar. Brady hummed to himself. It might've been impressive to everyone else, but for the son of a metahuman who used her increasingly improving fire powers as a 'show and tell' trick for him since he was a toddler, it wasn't that great.

The man snapped his gaze toward Brady, making the young meta's eyes widen. It was as If the man was waiting for him to say something, to reveal himself. So much so that the man then spoke in a low, confident drawl, looking directly at Brady. "Believe me, that's the least impressive of my tricks."

He waved his hands and, in second, a blue vapor seemed to wash over him and he disappeared from the park bench, reappearing a good ten feet behind it, standing flat on the ground. A wild applause came, even Brady and Connor couldn't help but clap along with them.

"How the hell did he do that?" a man nearby asked.

"You think that's actually magic?" Connor muttered in Brady's ear. Brady hesitated, not quite sure. He did believe in magic, his mother was great with up-close magic and had actually taught him a few things, but the color of the teleportation was similar to a breach. Maybe someone like Cisco and Gypsy, who could breach and send out vibrational blasts so quickly it could easily be explained as anything else.

"I'm not sure," Brady replied.

"Maybe you can figure out how I did it," The man continued, seeming to speak directly to Brady once more. "But…I doubt you'll have time." With a flourish, he waved his hand over his arm, where a multitude of watches appeared. A roar of amazement waved over the crowd as many of the adults in the crowd checked their wrists which were then bare. "Yes, my puns are as good as my tricks."

He waved his hand and teleported once more. This time appearing behind the group. Brady could hear a sound of amazement pass from his lips. He actually was amazed at how…well put together it was and how amazing. If he wasn't a meta, he was doing a better job at magic than all of the other magician's he'd seen at all the birthday parties he'd been to combined.

All until he teleported once more, this time much further away, balancing atop a car of the Ferris Wheel, were he bowed, waved his wand, and threw a smoke bomb toward the ground, disappearing from view. Along with the watches.

"He still has the watches," Brady said to Connor. He grabbed his best friend's wrist and the two started toward the Ferris Wheel, the crowd dispersing, seeming to forget the items that were theirs.

"If he's not a meta, he's definitely a good thief," Connor said as they ran. The skidded around the far side of the Ferris Wheel to see the man walking away, calmly looking over the faces of the watches he'd taken, as if determining whether they were as valuable as he'd hoped.

He slowed to a stop then turned to face Brady. He didn't seem surprised to see the two boys behind him. As a matter of fact, his eyes briefly glanced over them before turning back to the watches.

"I don't think that's yours," Brady commented, feeling himself slide into his Shadowhunter persona, despite not in the comfort and anonymity of his suit. It was a second too late to think of putting himself in his suit, the man seemed to recognize him as it was.

"Ah, Braden Nash," the man said. He flicked his wrist, the watches magically disappearing. He cleared his throat, rolling up the sleeves on the dress shirt beneath his jacket. "Commonly goes by Brady. Doesn't like to be called Brad or Braden."

Brady blinked in surprise before his eyes narrowed. Beside him, he saw—and heard-Connor take in a sharp breath of surprise. "How'd you know that?" Connor asked.

"I'm from the future, Connor Hawke," the man replied. "Or should I say Connor Queen? You're a bit younger than I remember. Both of you. But such is life." Brady continued to watch him. The man shook his head. "You don't believe me, uh…" His eyes turned skyward. "Let's see, it's almost 2018…" A peculiar smile came to his lips. "How are things going with DeVoe?"

"DeVoe?" Brady repeated.

"Or are you still working on Demon?"

"Demon?" Connor asked.

"Well, Cisco's not the only one who can come up with some nicknames. But this is of an even more pressing matter, a certain…darkness…"

Brady felt his blood run cold. "You know…" He could barely get the question out, it petering out on the wind that blew by. He hadn't even really mentioned it to Team Flash yet and somehow, this man knew…

"I know everything about everyone." The man shrugged, smiled smugly. "And you." He brought up his arm, as if going to wave a cape and disappear from sight. Brady reacted quickly, he leapt forward and grabbed the man's arm, hoping to hold him still.

But the man kept moving…his arm coming off into Brady's hand. Connor cried out in surprise and Brady jumped backwards, dropping the, what he realized to be fake, arm to the ground. "What the hell."

"You just ripped his arm off!" Connor cried.

"It's not his real arm, stupid."

"You're the one who was stupid enough to grab onto him like that! You could've been zapped into another dimension." Connor looked at Brady out the corner of his eye. "I think it's time that Shadowhunter tried to see what's going on."

Brady nodded back, brought up his wrist to slap on his suit.

"Oh, just one more thing." The man held up his palms, showed they were empty. Pushed up his sleeves, showed they were empty as well. He waved his hands and, suddenly a deck of cards appeared smack in the middle of his palm. He grinned, stood up straight, and adjusted his tie. Brady slowly started to lower his hands, watching. Suddenly, the man threw out his hands. All at once, the cards lifted and swirled through the air, creating a flurry, a storm that he couldn't break through. Nevertheless, Brady raced forward as fast as he could, bringing his arm back and thrust it forward, sending a shadow ball directly towards the man.

The same man who looked to slowly be turning into the cards themselves. Disappearing in front of his very eyes. The man disappeared, but the cards shot towards him, cutting his arms and legs as they whizzed by. Brady winced, wondering why he didn't think to phase sooner. He continued forward, toward the man.

Brady nearly jumped out of his skin when, suddenly, some of the cards were neatly cut in half by a sword that nearly sliced off the tip of his nose. He looked up at Black Blade, slightly surprised he didn't have to tilt his head back as far as he used to, watching as the cards fell around them, Black Blade re-sheathing the sword off his hip.

"Black Blade," Connor said.

Brady gaped at the fellow shadow meta in surprise. The young, Japanese man didn't venture out in the daylight as much as others did. His powered were weakened significantly due to it, he preferred to work at night. If there was something that brought him out to find Brady then, then something had to have been going wrong.

"What are you doing here?" Brady asked. He thought for a moment, squinting an eye shut. "Are you stalking me?"

The corner of Black Blade's mouth turned up. "Following a young boy around…that's even frowned upon on my Earth. No, I came to find you."

"Why?"

"I'm being followed," Black Blade replied.

"Followed?" Connor repeated. Black Blade nodded. "By who?"

"By what," Black Blade corrected him. His blue eyes narrowed a fraction, silver hair blowing on the sudden breeze that encircled the three. He lifted his chin, eyes narrowing even further against the sunlight. He watched for a moment, fingertips gently tapping against the hilt of his sword, waiting. Then, finally, something shifted and he turned and pointed. "That."

Brady watched as something in the sky moved closer, closer, closer, realizing as it did so, that it was a Samuroid. A Samuroid with its sword pointed toward the ground. Remembering what happened the last time, he grasped Connor's shoulder and phased at the same time Black Blade did.

The Samuroid landed on the ground in a crouch and slammed the tip of the sword into the ground. Just as before, there was a large wave of blue light and energy that burst through the area, knocking those that weren't prepared off their feet and to the ground.

The screaming and crying started almost instantly.

Once the shockwave ended, Brady let go to Connor's shoulder, suited up, and pulled out his yo-yo, transforming it into the hammer and stood next to Black Blade, who held out his sword toward the Samuroid in warning.

"It shouldn't take too long for The Flash to arrive," the Samuroid said. He spun his sword in a quick circle around his palm before holding it tightly. "I'll have time to take care of you two before I deal with him."

* * *

**A/N: **Oliver and Cadence both have points, to be completely honest. Even I'm not sure which is the best thing for Connor at this point. Again, I promise not everything is going to be so angsty all the time. But it's the first time Oliver's pretty big since his part of _Flash Fire. _Things will get better. Lol.

Also, if you didn't know…after five fics, 1123 reviews, 182,988 hits, 541 favorites, 210 chapters, and 1,676,613 words, today, October 18, 2019, it has been five years since I started The Flash and The Flame series. The Flash is one of my favorite TV shows and being able to stick with some characters for as long as the show is going, it something I hope I never get tired of. I don't have as much time as I'd like to write this story, the sequels (the sixth and seventh stories within the series for and for the fifth and sixth season of the show) as I used to, but this series is something I'm constantly working on, constantly talking about in real life (with my sisters), and constantly enjoying as I work to make it the best series of fics as I can.

Thank you all so much for being on this journey with me.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **If anyone deserves a night off, it's Cade. You're absolutely right! Lol.

**DarkHelm142:** Sorry I have to tease you with one more chapter, but you're goign to love this fight scene. I intended on adding it to this chapter but couldn't do it without things getting wayyyyy too long, so I had to split it in half.


	15. What's the Magic Word? (2)

**14**

_What's the Magic Word?_

* * *

Barry bounced from foot to foot, watching as the portal in front of him continued to open, expanding in size as the seconds passed. Cisco stood next to him, arms folded, watching the swirling vortex with such an intensity he may have been watching a movie marathon of some of his staples.

"And you really think this is going to work?" Cisco asked, finally breaking the silence.

Barry nodded, continuing to stare at the vortex. Oliver rolled his eyes, turning his gaze toward the ceiling. Once Barry got tired of bouncing, he brought his hands up behind his head, lacing his fingers together, and started to pace. Every few steps, his eyes would dart back toward the vortex.

"No. I really don't know, man," Barry replied. "But I need to do something to get Savitar out of my head."

"And you're pacing is really doing it," Oliver remarked. Barry shot him a frustrated glance, prompting Oliver to raise a hand. "It's making me dizzy and if it hasn't made Savitar disappear by now, I don't think it's going to."

Cisco rubbed his chin, nodding as he listened to Barry. Just as he had when Barry told him, in the first place, what his plan was. Somehow, he managed to figure it out without having to deal with Barry's babbling once more. Or, rather than he'd been minding his own business, watching the satellites when his chair was grabbed and in a flash of light, he was whisked off to his lab where markers drew all over the transparent board to get the point across.

And Cisco all but stared, watching as it was played out before him until Barry came to a stop, the bottoms of his converses squeaking against the ground as he worked to stop himself. His eyes shifted over the board, reading everything carefully before saying, "So…Savitar's still here?"

Now, Cisco's face scrunched up, still trying to wrap his mind around it. He watched Barry continue pacing, nodding despite holding the back of his head. "He's here, like…" he lifted his hand, wiggling it in the air, jerking his hand back every few seconds, as if afraid he was going to stick his finger up Savitar's nose. "Here? Or…here? Am I about to poke him?"

"I don't think you're going to be able to touch him," Barry said. "So far I'm the only one who can see him. And if Oliver's right," he nodded towards the very frustrated looking Green Arrow. "Then only speedsters can."

"Okay, but what about Wally?" Cisco asked. "He couldn't see Savitar, either."

"Wally wasn't in the Speed Force as long as Jay and I were," Barry explained. He let out a long breath, dropping his hands from the back of his head and looked anxiously towards the breach. "It's only going to be us who can do it. And, who knows, maybe Jay will have an idea of what to do."

"Have you thought of mind-melding with him?" Cisco asked. He started to move toward Barry's side then stopped, taking a huge step back. He eyed the area in front of him, frantically waving his arms to ensure Savitar wasn't standing right in front of him. Though he wasn't quite sure what _would _happen if he could touch Savitar. If he were only visible to speedsters, did that mean he was moving too fast? And would that mean he was moving fast enough to phase, so that Cisco would just move through him? "Maybe that'd give you an idea of what to do?"

"Mind-melding with him would be like mind-melding with myself at this current point in time," Barry said. "Savitar isn't a speed mirage, a doppelganger, or a time remnant, he's a version of me that should be living at this point in time, but I changed that timeline. He's me but he's _not_ me."

Cisco blinked slowly. He brought up a hand to press his fingertips to his temples that now throbbed with a headache. "Wow…I think this is the first time that I _don't_ like the idea of time travel," he murmured. "But I'm not sure if it's because of your explanation in general, or that I actually understood it."

Barry laughed humorlessly. "Are you sure that breach is open to the right place?"

At his best friend's words, Cisco dropped his hands from his head and planted them on his hips. "You did _not_ just question my breaching skills! I know you've been gone for however long it is in the Speed Force, but here, it's been six months. And in those six months, you don't know how much training I've been through so…" he flicked his hand towards Barry, muttering a curse in Spanish under his breath. "Yes…this breach is open to the right spot, I've had a lot of practice with target breaching."

Barry lifted an eyebrow, turning back toward Cisco. "You trained that much to breach?"

A knowing smile came to Cisco's face before he could stop it. "Well, _that _and I've been doing some Earth jumping of my own."

Barry opened his mouth to respond, stopping only when there was pulse through the breach, seconds before Jay Garrick jumped through, dressed in his suit. He landed in a low crouch, then straightened. He looked around the basement of STAR Labs then at Barry and Cisco, and Savitar if the way his eyes widened were any indication.

"It's nice to see you again," he commented, taking off his helmet. He spun it in his palms and gestured toward Barry. "But something tells me you didn't breach me over here for just a greeting call. Or even to offer a quick run and some lunch."

"Not this time, Jay." Barry nodded in the direction Savitar stood, though to Cisco it was nothing but an empty area of the floor. "I need to talk to you about the Speed Force prison."

"It's good to see you out of there," Jay remarked. He continued to spin his helmet in his hands. Watching as the reflection of the room continued to whiz by with each rotation of the metal. "It's not fun, being in a prison like that. Makes you wonder if you could ever really handle the real thing, powers aside."

"Coming from the man who could throw someone into prison in the blink of an eye," Oliver remarked.

Jay flicked his gaze toward Oliver. His lips pulled back into a warm smile before his tongue poked out to wet his lips. Then he turned away from Oliver again, silently dismissing him. Oliver's eyes narrowed and he looked to Barry, who looked equally irritated at the change of conversation, and amused that Oliver was, sort of, being put in his place.

"_Anyway! _That's what we wanted to talk to you about," Cisco said. He stepped toward Jay, nodding in the same direction that Barry and Jay had referred to before. "Savitar's been with Barry since he was in the Speed Force, and now he's followed him out. We want to know what's made it so that he's here with him and that when he tried to talk to us about it, he said nothing but speed gibberish."

"Ah, the speed gibberish." A smile came to Jay's face. He stopped spinning the helmet and looked at the two for a moment. He sucked in a short breath through his nose. "Tell me, was he saying things that he's said before? Things that you may not have recognized?"

"Well, if something about falling stars means anything to you…?" Cisco shrugged. He thought for a moment then nodded. "There were a lot of things he said that sounded familiar to us. But, you know, the strange things…"

"We just need to know if there's a way we can stop this," Oliver interrupted. "Or fix it. Or…whatever it is that speedsters due to get their heads back on straight."

Jay looked at him for a solid moment, the nodded. "Oliver Queen," he remarked. "I never thought I'd see the day where I was able to meet you." The side of his mouth turned up when Oliver's eyes narrowed. "I know that sounds strange, but on my Earth, the Oliver Queen I know comes from more…humble beginnings."

Oliver's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you—"

"Jay," Barry interrupted. "Savitar was with me the entire time I was in the Speed Force prison. I saw my entire life flash before my eyes. Saw how it began and ended…" he shook his head. "It took a long time for us to realize, that what I was seeing, was Savitar's life. My _original _life."

Jay blinked in surprise. "Your original life?"

"Savitar is who I should've been, had my mom not died that night. Had Eobard Thawne not come back to the past. The life I saw in the prison was that life, over and over again. Why would I have been shown Savitar's life and why would it keep him with me?"

Reaching up a hand, Jay rubbed his chin. "It might have to do with the calcified Speed Force we used against Savitar," he remarked. He shrugged, pursing his lips. "Then again, this might be another mystery we're unable to solve. The Speed Force is the embodiment of reality in motion, there's only so much we can learn about it as speedsters and even as people who've managed to experience it in other ways."

Oliver shook his head. "So, you're saying there's nothing we can do to stop this…_thing _from haunting Barry?" He demanded. "Nothing at all?"

"Relax, Behemoth, we're all friends here," Cisco broke in. Oliver turned a glare his way, making Cisco gulp loudly, taking a step back from Oliver. "We're all trying to figure this out. It's…well, Caitlin's been keeping track of everything, before Snart and Mick stole it and sold it on the black market."

"Well, why don't we just ask Gideon?" Barry interrupted.

Oliver lifted an eyebrow. "What's a Gideon?" He asked.

"We could try it," Cisco said slowly. "But we have to be careful of the kind of information that—" he broke off, feeling the world move around him in a blur, his feet flying from beneath him. He was grabbed by a speedster and was being raced to the Time Vault before he could even finish his sentence. Finally, he was let go, the world slammed back into place. He slammed his eyes shut, waiting for the world to come back to speed.

Oliver, on the other hand, reached out a hand and placed it on the wall beside him, the other resting on his knees as he bent in half. His cheeks ballooned every few seconds, then returned to its natural state. He sucked in a deep breath and stood up, placing his hands on his hips.

Barry patted him on the back. "You can throw up if you want," he said, a grin on his face. "Diggle does it all the time." Still grinning, and missing the harshest glare Oliver could send him, Barry removed his hand and stepped up to the pedestal that stood in the center of the room. He passed his hand over it. Immediately, the room illuminated with the large, artificially enhanced head of Gideon. She tipped her chin, lips moving back into a straight smile.

"Good morning Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, Jay Garrick, and Oliver Queen. Also known as The Flash, Vibe, The Flash, and the Green Arrow."

"She didn't say anything about Savitar," Oliver said.

"That's because she can't see Savitar," Jay reminded him. "As far as we know, Savitar is all in Barry's head. But as far as Barry's concerned, Savitar is as real as the rest of us."

"A real _Ghost Dad _if you will," Cisco agreed. All eyes turned his way. It even looked like Gideon was giving him a blank look. "Have you never seen that movie? Do you watch the classes? _Ghost Dad _with Cosby. _Long _before his fall from grace, that's a good movie! Y'all need to educate yourselves!"

Barry rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Gideon. "Gideon?" Her head turned his way. "We need you to tell us everything you know about the Speed Force."

Gideon nodded and lifted her head, eyes staring blankly ahead as if she were looking at a newspaper right in front of her. "The Speed Force is the representation of reality in motion; a cosmic force that pushes space and time forward. It has also created the speedsters such as Barry Allen, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, and Bart Allen."

Oliver's eyebrows came together. He and Cisco exchanged glances, but stayed silent, waiting to see what she had to say. Cisco, however, kept it in the back of his mind. Max Mercury, Bart Allen…if Gideon mentioned it, it had to be something they needed to pay attention to. _The newspaper changed before, she told us about that future. Max and Bart may be names we should look out for._

Gideon continued speaking, revealing everything her database knew about speedsters. "The source energy of the Speed Force has existed since the beginning of time, acting as a 3-D projection detailing past, present, and future events of both reality and all those touched by the Speed Force," Gideon continued.

"That explains what we see when we're imprisoned there," Jay remarked. He shook his head. "Seeing past, present, and future all at once is enough to drive anyone mad. It couldn't have been fun for Savitar."

"He's been in there for thousands of years," Barry agreed. "I couldn't begin to imagine what that'd do to someone."

Gideon continued as if no one had said a word. "The Speed Force can become incredibly volatile without an outlet to help expend its excess energy; often snatching people, places and things from across the eras into the Speed Force dimension. The powers bestowed upon those touched by the force revolve around motion and progression ranging to particle acceleration and deceleration, time, space, momentum, development, kinetic energy, evolution, and enlightenment."

Cisco nodded, mentally compartmentalizing all the information they were being given.

"The speed force has appeared in the form of wormholes opening up from all across history bestowing its mysterious powers to whomever it came in contact with."

"Wait, wait, wait." Oliver held up a hand. He turned to Barry with an incredulous look. "You're telling me that you got your powers from a lighting strike and chemicals and…dark matter and all that. But you're also telling me that, as a speedster, you also have this, wormhole power that you can tap into to help you run to the future, the past, and it's been around for centuries?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "You've been on an island for five years, learning all kinds of violent ways to survive and this is the part that worries you?"

"Centuries ago, the Speed Force went to war with the Sage Force, the Strength Force, and the Still Force. Each force battled to survive and for control of the Forever Force." At that, Barry and Cisco exchanged surprised glances. There weren't many things that could surprise them about the metahumans they met in Central City, about the extent of their powers and abilities as the day passed. But to know there were other forces out there?

"The Speed Force's avatar eventually banished the other forces behind the Force Barrier."

Gideon fell silent.

They waited for a second before Cisco sucked in a deep breath. A sound that would've been tiny compared to the Cortex or the Medical Bay, but in the tiny space of the Time Vault, it sounded grand and surprising, making Barry, Jay, and Oliver jump. Cisco reached out a hand and placed it to the wall, everything spun as if he'd been yanked away by Barry once more.

"You're telling me, that we don't have to just worry about a Speed Force," he said slowly. "But also a Sage Force, Strength Force, Still Force, and _Forever _Force?" He brought a hand up to his forehead, where a cold swat had broken out. "This…this is the greatest day of my life."

"Cisco…" Barry started.

"No, I mean, there's more than one speed force. They're not even speed forces, they're knew and different and defy the logic of physics and science that we ever knew and now we get to explore that! _And _see if there's any ways we can reach it to get Savitar back to where he needs to be. What?" He didn't miss the look Barry and Jay exchanged.

Jay kept his gaze on Barry as he said, slowly, "You may be thinking the same thing I am."

"That I may not have been in the Speed Force prison?" Barry replied, speaking just as slowly. "Or, that _Savitar _might not have been in the Speed Force and ended up in another one of the forces? Which is why he's stuck."

Jay nodded.

The silence that stretched afterwards was immediately broken by the sound of Barry's and Cisco's metahuman apps going off at the same time. Cisco's eyebrows furrowed together when he brought out his phone to study the location of the alert.

"Central City Pier," he murmured.

Barry was gone from the room in a flash.

* * *

"The other guy's getting away," Connor reminded Brady, lowering his hands from his best friend's shoulder as they stopped phasing.

"Well, this guy is more important," Brady replied. He tightened his grasp on the hilt of his hammer, bouncing it in his palms. Watched as the Samuroid slowly, yet determinedly lowered his sword, tapping the vey tip against the ground. His stomach clenched with each tap, waiting for the pulse of light blue energy again. Despite phasing it through him, the destructive power wasn't missed. Parts of Central City were still recovering from it the last time he'd attacked; the same day Barry re-appeared, he wasn't sure how long those at the Pier would be able to handle anymore blasts like this. "It's the same guy we've faced before."

"There's more than one of these then?" Black Blade asked. He tightened his grasp on his katana, taking a step back, sinking into a fighting stance. "I've been trying to shake it for days."

"Why would they be after you?" Brady asked.

"Looking to find the Flash," Black Blade replied. "But I haven't known where he was, so he must keep following after me to ensure I would bring him to the Flash." He shook his head. "I didn't know the Flash had been missing. I haven't been in Central City for a while."

"Well, that explains that," Brady said.

"I'll hold him off," Black Blade declared. "It's been looking for me, trailing me…then I should give him what he wants."

If it were possible for the Samuroid to grin more than his mask already had him, the Samuroid would've grinned even further. He spun his sword in his hand. Spoke in a robotic voice as he said, "A swordsman verus a samurai. A fight for the ages." Then he leaned back, falling into the same stance Black Blade was in. "I'll allow this fight as I wait for the Flash. I'm sure he's bound to show up at any minute."

"This won't take long."

Black Blade stepped back once more, then raced forward. The Samuroid moved back at him with blinding speed, aided by the jet pack on his back. A burst of jet propulsion shot the Samuroid forward. Black Blade lifted his sword in front of his face, a thin, neat barrier that cut his face into two profiles, each mirror on the side of the blade. At the last second, he turned the blade aside, catching it against the katana the Samuroid swung toward him.

Sparks flew from the swords clashing against each other. The force of the jet propulsion sent Black Blade skidding back against the wooden slats of the pier, sending splinters in all directions. Finally, the jet propulsion wore off and the Samuroid landed on his feet. Black Blade took the opportunity to spin around, swirling his sword above his head, aiming for the Samuroid's head. The Samuroid ducked out of the way and spun to Black Blade's other side.

Anticipating it, Black Blade worked to swipe the feet from the Samuroid from beneath him. He turned, opening his mouth to let out a cry of effort, but his cry was cut off by a shout of pain from a sudden blow to his shoulder. Sword falling from hand, Black Blade twisted to remove the blade from his shoulder, stopped when it was released from the wound, shooting back into the hilt of the Samuroid's sword.

A weapon recall. Black Blade gritted his teeth, scolding himself for to having seen it coming. It made sense for the Samuroid to be able to take his weapons back as quickly as he sent them out. He'd watched the news footage of the Samuroid's first attack, it was the first big attack on Central City since the Flash disappeared. Everyone was watching it. But Black Blade didn't watch to see how he was taken down, no, he watched to see how the Samuroid moved, how he used his sword, how easily he'd taken down Team Flash the first time around. Everything the Samuroid did, was just as a true samurai would do.

They wielded two swords and used it in intricate drawing and cutting movements, fell into a trademark stance of both swords held above the head in an attack, both swords used in a simultaneous rhythm with one defending and the other attacking with each step. All with the additional prospect of hand-to-hand combat behind the powerful swings of the sword. The Samuroid used the recall of the blade as a subtly changed design of the attack, offense and defense all in one move.

Quick enough that Black Blade couldn't phase in time.

But that didn't mean there wasn't another trick up his sleeve he couldn't throw out. Something the Samuroid wouldn't expect. Black Blade pulled his hand off his shoulder, brought his arm back as far as he could, and thrust it forward once more. As he pushed his hand forward, a dark cloud moved from his hand, as if from within him, and crashed straight into the Samuroid's chest. The force of the blow sent the Samuroid rocketing backwards, far enough away that Black Blade was able to bring his hand back to his shoulder.

He pressed his fingers against the wound, the darkness that came from his hand before covered the wound, swirling around it until it fused together, healing him. He turned back to the Samuroid who, smoking, stood straight, turning back toward Black Blade. All without a scratch on its metallic front, where it'd taken a direct hit.

Black Blade stared at the Samuroid, eyebrows coming together. "Whomever created you thought ahead," he murmured.

"Precisely," the Samuroid replied. He spun his sword once more, this time an alectricla blue charge starting at the bottom of the blade and rocketing toward the tip. He swung his word and the electric charge shot towards Black Blade. The shadow meta phased, allowed it to pass through him and crash into the hot dog stand behind him. "You've prepared as well."

"'You've been following me long enough."

"Long enough for you to bring me to The Flash."

"The Flash isn't here."

"He will be soon enough."

At the same time, Black Blade and the Samuroid charged toward each other. Black Blade dodged another blast of electricity and swung his sword forward. The Samuroid ducked to the side and Black Blade followed along, swinging to the side. At the same time, he reached behind him and pulled off another blade that stuck to his back. Wielding both, he conjured shadows from his arms down the blades of the swords and sliced toward the Samuroid.

_Shhnnnk!_

The tips of the blades scratched against the Samuroid's armor, sending sparks but not outwards damaging the metal. Once the blades cleared the Samuroid's armor and reached air, Black Blade came back around and struck forward, working to get the tip of the blade to impale the Samuroid, but found the tip of his blade breaking off and falling to the floor of the Pier.

Then they were fighting in hand to hand combat, strong punches that struck true, hitting each other in the face and chest, before they were able to duck out of the way, evading as many attacks as possible and doing it all again.

Behind them, stunned into watching the fight, Brady finally came to. He blinked rapidly, shaking his head, eyes scanning the Pier. Looking for the man that had been working to steal as many items form the crowds as he could. The crowd had dispersed the second the electric pulse had ripped through the area. But it did claim some victims, Brady could see a few people lying on the ground, struggling to get up. He glanced at them, remembering his mother's words from the entire summer;

_Civilians first, then go after the bad guy. Make sure they're okay, see if you need to get them to the hospital. We'll get the bad guy later, they always end up making a mistake sooner or later._

Brady continued to watch the civilians, watched as they, one by one, pushed themselves up, grabbed each other and started to run. Brady let out a sigh of relief. Adrenaline aside, if they could run, they could get out of the strike zone. They weren't too damaged, didn't need the hospital.

_Besides, _Brady reasoned, hearing police sirens come closer. _The CCPD can help them._

Decision made, he turned to Connor. "We have to find that other guy," Brady declared, dragging Connor's attention from the fight in front of them. "Stop him before he gets away. If he's a meta, we need to get him to STAR Labs and in the pipeline as soon as we can. Figure out what he wants and how he's doing it."

"Seems like a petty thief to me," Connor replied, though dutifully navigated away from the video he'd recorded, phone in hand. He turned it sideways, using his thumbs to navigate through his app, barely looking at the screen. "Just wanted to wow a crowd and steal their things."

"It's not petty with how quickly he did those things," Brady replied. He pressed his lips together, spun his hammer in hand. "There's more to it. I can tell, the way he moved…"

It was hard to explained. His mother had said to always pay attention to the little things that people did. How they moved when answering a question, how their smiles were when telling the truth or a lie of how their day was going, watching the way they moved when they were in a hurry and when they were calm. Paying attention to their nervous habits. There wasn't anything outwardly weird of the way the man moved, he was confident.

Overly confident.

It wasn't that that threw Brady off.

But the way he was able to do his tricks…

There were the amateur clowns and magicians he'd seen in birthday parties and events practically since he as born. Then there were the masters, who he watched with wide eyes on their TV specials, trying to figure out how they were able to do their tricks so well. Then there was this guy who…

_Who's a meta, _Brady deduced. He could feel it in his bones. _But a different kind of meta. What would his powers be, the power to control any and all inanimate objects? _Without responding any further, Brady grasped Connor's arm and the two lifted off into the air.

Brady's eyes scanned the pier, looking for the man who'd managed to transfix the citizens of Central City so well. Finally, he spotted him walking calmly, further down the Pier. Every now and then he'd pick up a watch he'd stolen and examine it. The shine of the watch glinting off the sunlight that bore down them. Brady landed on the ground in font of him, holding his hammer up higher.

The man continued toward him. He looked away from his winnings and looked Brady up and down. "I should've known you'd come back. What is that I can help you with? Or were you still wondering about that whole Demon thing?"

"How do you know so much about that?" Brady demanded.

"I already told you, little boy. I know everything." He lowered his hands, clasping them behind his back. "I know that Demon is nearly unstoppable. And that you cn control it, but not until after you have to give up some of the things that are the most important for you to do so."

"This is about his life—"

"—And it's my life if you hand me over to those people you are working with. I can let you know everything you've ever wanted to know…but only if you keep me free." He wiggled his fingers. "Especially because I'm not your biggest threat. I already told you who you want to pay attention to, this DeVoe fellow. But you're not paying attention. Or, maybe I should focus more on what else is coming up for you. You and the other metas may not make it as far as you'd like you know. Considering how many people here seem to dislike metahumans. Which is odd, because that's not so much of an issue on my Earth." He spread his hands. "I mean, look what's going on with me."

He threw out his hands, sending a flurry of cards into the air.

Brady flinched backwards before swinging his hammer, knocking a good chunk of them back toward the man. He barely blinked, pursing his lips to watch as the cards harmlessly fluttered around him. "Hm, interesting."

"I can do a lot more than that," Brady replied.

"You've got a lot of training done, then?"

"About six months' worth," Brady replied, his confidence building by the second. "Let me show you." The second the last word left his mouth, Brady threw out his arm, sending a wave of shadows towards the man. The shadows moved forward like tentacles, wrapping around the man's arms and legs, holding him still. The man's eyebrows pinched together as Brady rushed forward, returning his hammer to a yo-yo and trading it with his bow-staff. In the blink of an eye, he swept the man's feet from beneath him.

The man crashed hard to the ground, his eyes widening up toward Brady. He shook his head, struggling against the tentacles that held him. "You really are stronger than I'd thought you'd be, Shadow," he remarked. "I guess I must've come at the wrong time. Or the right time, if you were teo be a bit more precise."

Brady's eyebrows ticked upwards. He spun the bow-staff in his hand and turned it back to the slingshot, aiming it directly toward the man's face. "Anything else you'd like to say?"

"Yes, actually." The man slowly grinned, his bead and goatee growing as the seconds passed. He lifted his hands, showing that the shadows had let him go. Brady was unable to keep himself from gasping in surprise. "Abra Kadabra." The man clapped his hands together.

All at once, Brady felt himself lifted off the ground and into the air. He crashed against the cart of a rollercoaster nearby, groaning as he hit the ground. Brady flipped to this stomach and found the pain in his back receding faster than it had before. He pushed himself to his hands and knees before he was pushed back against the tracks of the roller coaster in the same way he'd been before. By a simply lift of the man's hands.

Something within his grasp glowed, Brady saw it for a fraction of a second as he flew through the air. He landed atop the track and let out a harsh grunt of pain. That one had been a harder hit, the wind blowing out of him within seconds. He rolled to his side once more, found himself starting to be dragged along the tracks by the same force.

Quickly, Brady threw out his yo-yo. He felt a snag in his wrist when it wrapped around a nearby pole that held the tracks together, and pulled hard. The retraction of the line to his yo-yo nearly ripped his arm out as he was suddenly flung to the side and wrapped around the pole. Nevertheless, he felt the pull of the man recede, allowing him to create his own trajectory to swing back to the ground. He released the yo-yo from the pole and fell to the ground, phasing through it to keep from becoming injured when slamming to the ground.

He phased back up and stood back, looking around for the man who'd suddenly disappeared. A frustrated grunt escaped his lips when he saw the man gone. Could only find Black Blade and the Samuroid still deep in a fight. Brady turned toward Connor. "You need to get to safety. If that blast can spread that far, then you need to get away from any of this stuff. It's just leaving you defenseless."

Connor gave him a stricken look. "How am I supposed to—" and he was whisked away in a flash of light. Seconds later, Barry re-appeared at his side, skidding to a stop with his right foot forward.

Brady glanced at him, first in annoyance—he'd been on his own for six months, he didn't need backup—then in grudging relief. The Samuroid was looking for The Flash, if he were able to see that The Flash was, in fact, there, maybe it'd throw him off enough to take him down. His relief increased when his mother teleported to Barry's side as well.

"Are you alright?" She asked, using a tone for allies than for mother-son. That was reserved for a different time of day, when everything was done and she could really face the reality that her son was out in the battlefield. Brady quickly dispelled her fears with a nod. "What've we got?"

"Another Samuroid," Brady explained. "This guy's been following Black Blade all over the place, looking for The Flash. He knew Black Blade had worked with us before…" He tossed his head aside, to where Black Blade and Samuroid were still fighing.

The Samuroid immediately stopped when he spotted the Flash. With a strong arm, he knocked Black Blade aside and started towards Barry, holding his hands out to the side, spinning his swords as he did so. "So you've finally decided to show up, Flash," the Samuroid drawled.

Barry immediately took off, running in a circle to create electricity and threw it towards the Samuroid. It struck the android straight in the chest and harmlessly bounced off, shooting out over the water.

Brady shook his head, backing up along with Barry and Cadence. "Somehow, he knows what we're doing. It's like he's…watching us or something. He was prepared for anything that we tried to throw at him."

"He's only come out Barry was supposed to come back, we hadn't seen him before," Cadence remarked. "You're probably right that he's taking on an certain interest for The Flash." She turned her attention back to Black Blade and the Samuroid. "Anything we've tried to do to regularly attack him, didn't work."

Brady thought for a moment, immediately going back to the way the Samuroid had been defeated before.

_Looking up, Barry watched as the Samuroid continued to swing his sword back and forth, sending waves of energy out into the poles of the windmills he flew by. A loud, groaning filled the air seconds before the windmills started to tilt. Barry blinked hard, standing still. On a good day, the passing clouds behind anything tall would give the appearance something was about to fall over. This time around, the windmills were, in fact, careening toward him._

_Barry gritted his teeth and took off once more, weaving between the falling windmills towards Cadence as she continued to fall. Barry raced up a windmill and, at the same time that he leapt towards the Samuroid, he threw a bolt of lightning forward._

_The Samuroid watched as the lightning bolt harmlessly shot by him. Then he turned back to Barry and said, "You missed," in a robotic-deadpan voice._

_Barry smirked. He landed atop the Samuroid and, with a wrench of its flying mechanism, ripped it of fhis back. Then he leapt off and sped towards the ground, just as the lightning bolt shot back towards the Samuroid—the lightning that struck the blades of a nearby windmill and directed back towards the Samuroid—following the metallic conduction of the blades. The Samuroid almost immediately blew up, black smoke billowing out of its back as it spiraled toward the ground._

_Barry pushed himself to run even faster and gathered Cadence in his arms before she hit the ground. He ran a safe distance away before setting her on the ground. The Samuroid hit the ground and exploded, sending metallic bits and pieces into the air._

_Silence stretched between them, Barry stepped back and looked at Cadence, chest heaving from the effort he put into his running, watched as she looked torn between wanting to give him a hug and throttling him. Of which he wasn't what she would do._

_Finally, she pulled her goggles down from her face and said, "I had that."_

_A laugh escaped Barry's lips. He reached up and pulled down his hood. "No, you didn't," he corrected her._

"We need to short circuit him," Brady declared., turning back to them "It's part android, so he runs on a computer system. There has to be a way to shut him down."

Cadence looked around for a moment then locked eyes on Barry. "You need to throw a lightning bolt at him," he said.

"I tried that already, it didn't even stop him for a second." Barry shook his head. "Whomever is sending these things out, they perfected the design from the last time, probably thinking of how I'd use my lighting against it."

Cadence snapped her fingers. "That's because you need more speed." Cadence turned and pointed to the Ferris wheel. "The more rotations you get on something as big as this, the more electricity you'll conduct. More electricity, the bigger the lightning bolt. Big enough to take him down."

Barry nodded and raced toward the Ferris wheel. He ran up the side and leapt from spoke to spoke, rotating the Ferris wheel. It started off slow, moving slowly, screeching and grinding against the metal as it came to a start. Slowly and slowly it revolved. Finally, it started to move along Barry's rotations. Lightning slowly, yet surely gathering along his path as he rotated around, moving faster and faster as the seconds passed.

"It's still not moving fast enough," Brady remarked.

"I'll help him out, you keep him busy." Cadence teleported to the side of the Ferris Wheel. She watched it for a few moments before reaching out to grab the spoke that whizzed by her. She grabbed the spoke and pulled as hard as she could. For a moment, the Ferris wheel slowed down, taking on the sudden traction of Cadence holding the spoke. But, like a parent flinging their child on a merry-go-round, she pulled the spokes, using her enhanced strength to give it more push each time it went around.

Lightning continued to trail after Barry, the largest trail any of them had seen. Finally, one the fastest of his rotations, he launched off the top of the Ferris wheel and threw the lightning bolt toward the Samuroid.

It streaked through the air and crashed into the android. The glow in its eyes faded almost instantly, turning a yellow along with Barry's lightning before it finally imploded, sending pieces of shrapnel in all directions. Brady brought up his arm, shielding himself despite allowing the pieces to phase through him. Black Blade and Barry did the same while Cadence teleported to safety, arriving back seconds later.

For a moment, they watched the burning husk as it stood before them, then it slowly pitched back and fell to the ground, cracking apart into little pieces as it struck the concrete.

* * *

Tommy Monaghan twisted his mouth to the side, watching as the news footage rolled over The Flash taking down the Samuroid. Watched as the letterhead scrawling against the bottom cemented The Flash's return to Central City. It wasn't as impressive of a fight, if he said so himself, but it was enough.

Enough so that the numbers in front of him continued to swirl higher and higher and higher as the seconds passed. Bidding on the metas that were going to make him a very rich man. Especially for those that wanted to be kept alive. Live targets weren't always his favorite, but who was he to judge what other people wanted?

Dead or alive, the money exchanged hands and he got a cut whether or not it was his own hit. But when it got out there and got his hands dirty, that's when things were exciting for him. Nevertheless, he couldn't turn down such a big bounty attached when the nameless benefactor gave him such good ideas of how to get the Flash alive.

He wasn't quite sure his means of sending out the Samuroids—or whatever STAR Labs was coining it—was doing much but…he wasn't after any of that. He was just after the money. The notoriety. His precious attempts had been abysmal, and so had the others, but there was always someone who would be successful. And with how the the money was moving, his commission aside, he hoped it was him.

REVERSE-FLASH…XXX

THE FLASH…700,000,000

FLARE….550,000,000

?

?

?

KILLER FROST…..10,000,000

VIBE…..7,000,000

SHADOWHUNTER….100,000

JESSE QUICK…50,000

KID FLASH…..50,000

GEO….10,000

* * *

**A/N:** Ugh, I tired, and tried, and tried to get the battle with Black Blade and the Samuroid to work well and be amazing and…maybe I'm just reading it too much? I hope you guys at least enjoyed it. That's the end of the first arc of the story and we're now moving into arc 2! I'll be back to regular Friday updates soon, I promise!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **It wasn't trickster, it was Abra Kadabra. Remember in Friction I'd said AK would be tied into a Brady plot, but then I ultimately had to push it back to this story instead.

**DarkHelm145:** Oliver has a pretty big point in this story along with how he did in _Flash __Fire, _so he's going to be showing up a lot. Mostly as Barry's confidant, but in some other interesting ways.


	16. Team Meeting

**15**

_ Team Meeting_

* * *

Cadence gathered her things together, tossing piles of Barry's residual junk mail into the trash. (How much mail could he have after six months away? Enough so that even a speedster didn't want to go through it). She blew around the kitchen, clearing plates and sticking them in the dishwasher. Then turned back to her son who sat at the breakfast table with Connor, picking at his toast. She rolled her eyes at her son's continuous picky eating habits.

_You'd figure an eleven-year-old would be more adventurous with his food, _she thought. "Please eat the crust, Brady," she said as she blew around. "It's the healthiest part."

Brady hunched over his plate. Even from where Cadence stood, she could see the corner of his mouth turn up into a smirk. "How does the baking process make the healthy part rise to the surface of dough?" He turned his smirk toward her, eyebrows twitching upwards. "I _do_ go to school, you know."

A sigh escaped Cadence's lips. She placed her hands on her hips, lower jaw moving aside. She looked to Connor, who smiled softly in response. "Has he always been this annoying or am I only just noticing it?"

"He's always been that annoying," Connor remarked.

Brady scowled, plunking his toast back down to his plate. "You haven't known me that long."

"Yeah, but I'm your best friend. So, I have no reason to lie."

Cadence smiled to herself, chuckling quietly at the disgruntled expression that came to her son's face. Then she looked to Connor, who lowered his chin and finished up the last few bites of his own breakfast. Wondered if his sullenness was still from his mother's death or if it were due to seeing Oliver again, hearing their argument. It'd happened the week before, but the residuals of that week were still there. Especially as it made her think of Caitlin more in the last week than she'd allow herself to over the past six months.

Team Flash had practically fallen apart when Barry left. And it didn't help she wanted Caitlin as far away from STAR Labs as possible. It was one of the few things she and Cisco butted heads about when it cropped up again. He was desperate to find her, wanted to have her back since her cold signatures had petered out. _Because you made them peter out, _Cadence thought.

She could still remember the angry-surprised expression on Killer Frost's face when Cadence attacked her, stabbed the vial in her neck that sapped her powers from her. It was a sense of desperation that drove her forward, to keep Killer Frost from having to make her make the hardest decision she'd have to come to terms with.

How do you kill your best friend?

It was one thing to stare death in the face. She'd done it enough times with Breathtaker holding the power to kill her at a moment's notice. When Savitar made it his life mission to kill her so that Barry would completely crumple. And had seen it, experienced it when Burnout had given up her own life to trick Savitar into thinking she had, indeed, been taken down by the God of speed. The rush of pain that stabbed her body from all sides when she mind-melded with Burnout in her last moments was the most agonizing thing she'd evert felt. (Almost as agonizing as hearing Brady's screams when he thought she was dead. But agonizing enough so that it felt like her powers were going out of control and she was exploding from the inside out).

Inflicting that pain on someone else was a harder decision than anyone could ever imagine. Killing was an intimate act. Getting so close to someone to stab, maim, strangle…kill anyone all together, being that close to see the lifeforce drain from someone was far ore intimate than a lover's kiss could be. Having to do that to someone who was a big part of her life?

It just proved to Cadence, struck her with surprise, really, at how vulnerable she was when it came to people close to her. She'd always been someone who pushed those thoughts aside when conducting business. Had the though tin the back of her mind, of her victims' family, when she was taking someone's life. But the need to survive never allowed her to think of it too much. Until it _became _too much. Until she found herself at the cemetery, laying flowers on the graves of those that had died, caught up in a senseless war they didn't know they were in.

But for Caitlin to look her in the eye and ask her to kill her if she became Killer Frost?

It was the lesser of two evils, she supposed, forcing her to take the cure. But that was the point. It was forced. By then Caitlin had been working to relieve herself of Killer Frost and Cadence had gone along and forced it upon her. Admitting it to Barry was hard. Admitting it to herself was even harder.

She'd messed up.

And couldn't stand to think of Caitlin confronting her about it. It was hard enough talking to Barry to Barry about what'd happened, about admitting what she'd done. They hadn't truly talked about it, it was something they brought up once then acted like it hadn't happened. It was different with Cisco, obviously. He'd never stopped looking for her and when he found her…

"Mom?" Brady's voice broke her out of her thoughts. He gestured to his wrist, where the housing unit of his suit lay. He tapped the face of it as if it were a watch. "We're going to be late."

"Right, right." Cadence shook her head and brushed her hair back from her face.

She reached out her hands while Brady and Connor got up from the table and moved to her side. She placed her hands on their shoulders and mimed taking a step forward, teleporting. The moment she finished her step, they were in the Cortex of STAR Labs. Brady and Connor immediately went to Leah's side as she sat on the floor of the Cortex, hands folded in her lap, waiting patiently.

Cisco, who'd been lounging at the computer looked up at them, slowly chewing a Twizzler, legs crossed at the ankle, stretched onto the counter in front of him. He held up his hand, mimed looking at a watch. Cadence rolled her eyes once more, suddenly realizing how much influence 'Uncle Cisco' had on her son.

"Is everyone here?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"You're late!" Cisco practically barked.

Cadence ignored him. "Not everyone's here." She closed her eyes, hair blowing back from her face when Barry, Wally, and Jay skidded to a stop in the cortex. "Of course."

Grinning, Jay placed his hand son his knees, leaning over as he fought to catch his breath. Barry and Wally, however, immediately recovered form their speed and immediately started ribbing each other. "I beat you," Wally declared. He pressed his hands to his chest then lifted his fists above his head in victory. "I totally beat you."

"You definitely didn't," Barry replied. "I was in the lead around that last turn. And I phased through the wall before you came even _close _to touching me."

"No." Wally shook his head. "No way. I totally—"

"—You're _late_!" Cisco barked again.

Iris rolled her eyes, leaning against the control panel next to him. "Look, everyone's here now. Don't be such a stick in the mud." She then slapped Cisco on the shoulder and gestured toward Jay. "And why don't you give him your seat? It's rude, you know."

"Please." Jay stood, holding out his hand. "Don't give me any special treatment. I'm just glad to see everyone again." He nodded towards the figures that stood around the room. "Team's much bigger now than it was before." His eyes landed on the empty space next to Cisco. "Smaller in some ways," he added.

Cisco cleared his throat, sitting up straight. "Okay! Is everyone finally ready to talk about all this stuff that we found out? Like that there's more than one Speed Force who may or may not be after Barry?"

"After Savitar," Wally pointed out. He motioned to himself then Jay. "We haven't had any problems with anything like this. But it wasn't until Savitar's presence that…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. Smiled sheepishly. "Well, I don't really know what Savitar's presence is doing."

"Other than making him speak gibberish when he got out of the Speed Force," Joe pointed out. He waved a hand toward Barry. "There's a lot of things I don't understand about all this meta stuff, but even _that_ was something I couldn't wrap my head around."

"Well, allow me to make my mother's spirit happy for a few moments and be the professor that I never was," Cisco said, leaping to his feet.

Iris gave him a funny look. "Your mom isn't dead, Cisco."

"Yes, but her spirit has ways of coming to get me," Cisco reminded her.

Cadence made a low humming sound. "My mom's the same way." She grinned when Brady threw her a disapproving glance, only briefly masked by a half-smile.

"As Jay explained, it seems to be that the Sage Force, the Strength Force, and the Still Force, very much like the Speed Force, are trying to battle for dominance once more and while Barry had been within the Speed Force prison, it affected him more than we'd originally thought," Cisco said, taking up the explanation. He cleared his throat and started to pace. Lifting a finger in his air as he kept going. Putting on a performance. "His mixed-up brain aside, there's going to be more residual affects than we thought would happen."

"Like…?" Leah questioned.

"Like, first and foremost, we were able to become stronger on our own," Cisco continued. He stopped pacing and placed his hands on his hips. He looked to Cadence, Wally, Leah, and Brady as he added, "We all had to step up with our responsibilities of taking care of the city and we've grown stronger as metas because of it. We've managed to defeat everything and anyone that's come our way after numerous trainings and practice sessions." He stopped, pressing a hand to his mouth. "Until now."

"Well, what was different this time?" Connor asked, clasping his hands together.

"The Samuroids," Cadence pointed out. "Wally tried going after him, we tried fighting it, even Black Blade tried. And our brute strength couldn't stop it." She lifted a finger and pointed across the Cortex, where the head of the Samuroid sat on display. A prize for finally defeating a second iteration of an attack. Barry had suggested it once the Samuroid had burst into pieces, saying Cisco could probably use it to determine what it was made of. They had to work hard to take down his armor, finding it impenetrable. If they could figure out the metals used to make the Samuroid, they may be able to figure out who was manufacturing them and sending the robots after them. "Its armor is virtually indestructible and the only way we were finally able to stop it was when we tried something different, threw in a stronger attack."

"So?" Leah asked. Her face scrunched up as she titled her head, blonde hair falling form her brown eyes. "'What does that have to do with anything?"

Cadence had never known Leah to have a rude bone in her body but had the distinct feeling she was annoyed of being left out from Brady's and Connor's adventure of fighting the Samuroid and the other meta they'd come across. "I mean, we faced the Samuroid twice and both times he wanted to take on the Flash. He was harder to beat this time around if someone like Black Blade couldn't take him down, it's only a matter of time until we create something that can."

"Or something's sold that can," Cadence said. She thought for a moment. "I'm sure there's something in the Network that would do it. If they've got their information on us through Amunet's Network, that'd be the least of our problems when it comes to the weapons they can sling through." Her eyebrows twitched upwards. "And believe me when I say you couldn't imagine the sorts of weapons they'd managed to come up with, and how much it's going for."

"So, we've got the potential means of the how the metal is being found," Wally said. He cleared his throat, still pacing. "We just need to find out who's sending them after us. Isn't there some sort of an IP address or serial number on the parts we can follow?"

Cisco lifted an eyebrow. "You think we haven't already thought of that? I mean, I'm a mechanical genius here, you think I wouldn't have thought of running tests to determine the components of the metals and try to trace it back?"

"Well, did you?" Joe asked, point blank.

Cisco's eyes shifted. "Yes!...and I'm still waiting for the results to come back. But in the meantime, there are two more pressing matters we have to deal with. The meta that attacked at the same time as the Samuroid and everything with the Speed Force."

"What's going on with the Speed Force isn't anything we can fix soon," Jay pointed out. "The Speed Force, and all the other forces, are constantly evolving, constantly changing. It could take even a speedster forever to learn everything there is to know about the Speed Force."

"Well, has anyone ever encountered the Still Force?" Wally asked. He folded his arms, licked his lips, eyebrows pinched together in concern. "Or The Sage Force? Maybe it's something we can tap into to stop all this from happening?"

"And turn your brain into soup on the way out?" Iris shot back. She motioned towards Barry. "We could hardly understand him when we came out of the Speed Force, how do we know that the Sage Force wouldn't…completely remove his brain or something?"

"Or it could make him the smartest man alive," Brady pointed out with a cheeky grin. "A big improvement if you ask me."

"Brady!" Cadence snapped. He immediately shut up, slapping his hands over his mouth, eyes growing wide. Barry silently raised a hand and shook his head. A silent gesture to show he didn't take offense ot it. Still, Cadence gave her son a warning look and addressed the room once more. "I think Jay's right, that we can't split our attention on this, and that we need to focus on this new meta. This isn't the first meta we didn't see coming."

"But the question is…" Cisco said mysteriously. "'How did he get his powers? Facial recognition states that he wasn't in Central City at the time of the Particle Accelerator explosion. And…" he sighed heavily. "I tracked the Samuroid movements and, it's clear they're coming from someone who is targeting the Flash. Someone who…somehow…knew Barry was going to come out of the Speed Force that day at that time."

Iris's eyebrows came together. "You think they're connected."

"I do."

"But that doesn't make sense," Joe said. "This guy has meta powers we haven't seen before. A sort of…magic based power—"

"—Or nano technology," Cisco broke in. "That's not really something we've come across before and, honestly,"—he grinned—"I'm really hoping this is it."

Barry ignored Cisco. "So, if these events are connected, if there was another dark matter event, then what was it that made the dark matter event? There hasn't been another explosion, I mean, STAR Labs doesn't look any more destroyed now than it did before."

"Mmm." Brady's face screwed up. "Dark matter is what made my mom and made me," he said slowly. "But my mom was injected with the dark matter and I was there when the Particle Accelerator went off." He started to point around the room. "Cisco got it during the Particle Accelerator explosion and so did Caitlin. Barry was hit by lightning from the explosion of the dark matter. Wally and Jesse got their powers after they were hit with the wave of dark matter when we were trying to stop Zoom. So there's always dark matter around us."

"Nothing as big as the particle accelerator, though," Iris pointed out. "And Velocity-9, but I don't think we have any more of that laying around." Her eyebrow cocked upwards. "Not enough to create any new metas that aren't speedsters anyway."

Jay nodded quietly. He lifted his chin, parted his lips and looked Barry directly in the eye as he said, "Except for Barry coming back…" All eyes turned toward him. "If what you've been telling me is true, a Speed Force portal opened and there's a wave of dark matter that came out along with him."

Cadence immediately turned to Cisco and said, "Go back to the day Barry came out and track it for any dark matter." Cisco nodded and hurried behind the computer. His fingers flew over the keyboard, the incessant clacking breaking the tension through the Cortex.

"Okay," Cisco finally said, motioning toward the large projection on the screen that sat across the Cortex from the computer station. A map of a connection street corner came up, revealing a large mass of…something. Cisco nodded toward it. "That's where it's coming up."

"There's nothing there!" Leah remarked, her noise wrinkling once more.

Brady tilted his head, scratching his neck with the most befuddled expression on his face. "It's not even an intersection."

"But it's where I came out of the speed force…" Barry explained. "Then ran to Ivy City. I remember that part. I could see everything moving around me, but, from my point of view, I was chasing Savitar. I didn't see my surroundings util Brady knocked some sense into me." He paused. "Literally. The Speed Force portal opened, I ran out, there was a wave of dark matter and…" he trailed off.

Joe's eyes widened in surprised. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. His gaze bounced off every face in the Cortex, who gaped back at him. "So…we did it? We brought dark matter into Central City?"

"And the more dark matter we brought into Central City, the more metas we may have created," Cisco murmured. He brought his hands up and rubbed hem over his face. "Every time we try to do something right, it goes totally wrong."

"What are we going to do then?" Leah asked. "It's not like we can figure out all of the metas that we created by opening that portal. Do you know how many people are in this city? A lot." She motioned between herself, Brady, and Connor. "We did a report!"

"We're just going to have to do the same things we've always done," Barry remarked, letting out a defeated sigh. He brought up a hand to run over his face in the same way that Cisco had done before. "If any metas come around, we're going to have to capture and rehabilitate them. Make the city safer while we try to figure out what's bringing the Samuroid forward and figure out who's after me."

"Well, we only have about one hundred people who you may have possible ticked off," Cisco said sarcastically. "And that's just by your presence of being a meta alone."

"I think you're forgetting that people are after you too, Vibe boy," Cadence shot back. "None of us are safe. We know what's been going on with the Anti-Meta measures and now that Lex Luthor is using it as his campaign platform…it's just going to make it easier for people who've always been anti-meta to be more open about it than ever before."

"There's always been a lot more taggings over the last six months," Iris agreed. She folded her arms, shaking her head sadly. "There are those trying to clean it up the best they can…but it's moved on to be digital now. You can't go on the internet these days without someone having to say something anti-meta, or making a slur, or just being plain hateful to each other."

"And with this new meta, we can't be too careful," Barry agreed. He looked to Brady, Connor, and Leah and added, "I don't like the idea of them going out into the field now."

"What?!" Brady and Leah cried in unison.

"They might be right," Joe agreed. He nodded towards Wally. "I don't even like the idea of any of you being out in the field right now. Things are getting harder for us at the CCPD and even us as regular people. After what happened with the gorilla attack and the missile…" he trailed off when Cadence and Barry grimaced, looking away. "Tensions are running high right now. There are people who are as grateful for the presence of metas and their powers as there are those who hate it."

"So is it a good thing that there has been a creation of new metas at this time?" Jay asked. He held up his hands when all eyes turned toward him. Accusing, confused, and worried. "I'm asking the simple questions that everyone asks. That anyone would ask. Because you really need to take this into consideration, the anti-meta side isn't as strong on my Earth as it is on yours. We live peacefully for the most part. Do you think the defense for the metas is worth it?"

"Of course," Barry quickly agreed. "It's what we always do. It's what we've always _done. _We capture, rehabilitate, and let them go."

"And the Pipeline isn't a prison?"

Barry bristled at that. "Not any more than the Speed Force has been. At least we know what'll happen if we put them in the Pipeline! We can watch them, make sure nothing goes wrong. As for everyone out there now…things are as dangerous for us as it is for anyone who's been normal. Lex is trying to pin everyone against metas and…that's not what we need right now. Metas aren't evil, people are evil, and people with powers just make it…" He trailed off.

Cadence watched him, shaking her head. What more was there to say? They were on the same page in that aspect, that metas shouldn't be treated as badly as they were. Like dangers to themselves nd others, when it wasn't metas that were the problem, but what people decided to do with the powers they were given. Just as easily as she was a hero—if she even was that—she could've become a villain. Just as easily as Barry was able to let what happened to his parents fuel him to a life of justice, he could've easily gone the route of Savitar and…

Honestly, she didn't want to think about it. They'd come across too many evil speedsters for her to want to think about it happening to someone who was supposed to be the fastest man alive.

"So we've got two things to worry about right now," she said, taking up the lead once more. Cadence lifted two of her fingers. "Finding the identity of the man who was after Brady and figuring out where the metal from the Samuroids is coming from."

"Identities should be easy," Joe said. He nodded toward the screen presented in front of him. "If facial recognition told us he became a meta after the Particle Accelerator explosion we may be able to use CCPD tools to figure out just who he is."

Cisco snorted. "No offense, Joe, but this facial recognition software is state of the art. The best. Not even Oliver Queen can get something like this, okay? It goes through the police database and everything you can think of. If it can't give us this meta's identity, what makes you think the CCPD will."

"Because we've been working with far less technology than STAR Labs has given us before and we've still managed to catch our man," Joe replied.

"Point taken," Cisco murmured to the light chuckles around the room.

"Wait for me," Barry decided. "I might be able to figure some things out while I go through…" he sucked in a deep breath. "Every case that's been left for me since I left."

Iris raised her eyebrows, amused. "You haven't gone through them since you got back."

"I have!" Barry said defensively. He sniffed. "It just takes a long time. And there's some cases I really didn't want to revisit. Believe me."

"I'll look into where we can get some of that metal," Cadence agreed. "Our first shot is to see if any of it is coming from The Network and I think I've still got some pull in that area." She gave a half shrug. "Even if I don't get a straight answer, it'll at least knock that area off our list of people who still have a bone to pick with us." She refrained from saying the obvious, that she was looking into the Network to see if there was any pull they still had over _her._

While Breathtaker used other people to do his dirty work, Amunet Black wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty herself. She came about some of the top items—and people—through her Network herself. A way with words and a penchant for a steely tone made her the 'muscle' of her own organization. _But there was a reason she and Breathtaker never attacked each other, and there must be something that's keeping Amunet from putting herself out there. If there's some sort of metal going through the Network, she'll know what it is and want to use some of it herself._

"In the meantime, we should look into getting Jay back home," Cadence said. She nodded to Wally. "Think you can give him some more time to rest before you race him back to Earth-3?"

Jay smiled and tipped his head toward her—a move which would've been with his hat had it been on him. "I may be getting older, but I still heal fast. Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with and you know I'll be here in a Flash." He smiled at his own joke, letting out a quiet sigh to the polite smiles that came his way. "Just thought I'd get that in once to see how it felt."

"And how did it feel?" Joe asked.

"Like one of those 'dad' jokes I keep hearing the kids here talk about."

Cadence smiled. "Iris, keep an ear out for what's going on with Lex and the anti-meta factions. Anything we can know before it happens—any underground meetings, any pushes with the MRA, any bills that or laws that seem similar to be put into place, we'll need to know so we can prepare." She nodded toward Barry. "Maybe make an appearance with Flash and Flare."

Iris nodded. "There hasn't been anything in this city that I haven't been able to sniff out."

"Is this a 'go team' moment?" Cisco asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I've been getting that vibe, too," Wally added.

Cadence ignored them. "And I hate to say it, but I think Barry's right." She looked to Brady and Leah. "For now, we can't have you go into the field." She kept going before Brady could protest any further than the expression on his face would've let him. "We can't have it where the mounting tensions against metas puts you in even more danger than we're already in. We'll have to adjust your training, but we can't have you go back out there until we find this meta and figure out what he wants with you." She paused. "Or the city collectively decides that meats aren't a threat. Whichever comes first."

Leah lowered her head and nodded.

Brady crossed his arms and turned away.

"I want reports as soon as you hear anything," Cadence said to Team Flash, before turning on her heel to leave the Cortex. She reached for Barry's arm as she, Joe, and Barry moved to the elevator, going to return to the CCPD. "I know Brady's going through the whole teenage thing a bit early, but you really have to stop doing that," She remarked.

Barry looked at her with wide eyes, confused. "Doing what?" He asked.

"Defending everything he does when I try to discipline him," Cadence said. She brushed her hair behind her ears. "I get you're trying to be the good parent in this situation, but if you're going to be his step-dad soon, you're going to have to let him know that he can't get away with treating you like this."

"I know," Barry agreed. "I can handle it."

"I don't mean to brush it off—"

"—I know," Barry interrupted her. Cadence lifted an eyebrow, looked to Joe, who looked away. He spoke quieter. "I get it. Things are hard for him now, and we just benched him. It's probably going to get harder before it gets easier but…I can handle…" he looked like he was having a hard time getting the words out. "Disciplining him if I have to."

"You have to," Cadence insisted.

"I know. And I will." He looked at her silently for a moment. "Do I have to ask you to be careful going to see Amunet?"

"That depends," Cadence replied with a laugh. "Do I have to tell you to be careful seeing Captain Singh?"

"Touche."


	17. Father and Son Reunion

**16**

_Father and Son Reunion_

* * *

Barry walked into the CCPD, blinking rapidly at the clamor and spectacle that greeted him. He looked to Joe, who shrugged, and the two inched toward the crowd that gathered around the lobby of the CCPD. Quietly, murmuring apologies, they pushed their way forward to see Mayor Bellows standing at a podium, answering questions and smiling the day away.

Barry's eyebrows twitched upwards as he watched. "Didn't know Mayor Bellows was doing the rounds," he commented.

Joe chuckled to himself. "Must be that time of year again." Barry started to say something ese, then stopped when Joe motioned for him to be quiet. Barry nodded, listening quietly. There were more than enough cameras and microphones around, he didn't want any of his comments accidentally getting caught on tape that he'd have to explain later. Or else be explained to him by Captain Singh in a loud, disapproving voice later.

"You know some of you may not realize," Mayor Bellows said in a loud, jovial tone as he looked around the precinct. He chuckled to himself before continuing. "But before I was a mayor, I was cop in this very precinct." He gestured grandly with his arms. "And it was because of these men and women that every family in Central City can sleep well at night."

Mayor Bellows paused and allowed the flurry of camera shutters and flashes to come, grinning all the while. Joe then leaned over to murmur in Barry's ear, "Mayor Bellows is on his re-election campaign," he said. "If I knew he'd be here today, I would've steered clear."

Barry laughed, a little too loudly. All eyes turned his way and he quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes growing wide. He glanced at Joe and took a step away, while Joe glared back at him. The two faced forward once more, but all eyes and cameras continued to point their way, this time due to Mayor Bellows waving his arm out toward the two.

"Detective Joe West," Mayor Bellows cried, his eyes still shining. "Keep up the good work. What do you say, Joe?"

Barry snickered to himself, watching the color drain from Joe's face as he was put on the spot. Not just because he wasn't paying close attention to what was being said, but also due to being put in the spotlight. Anytime he was made to make a speech, Barry remembered, Joe looked like he was about to keel over seconds before he was to go on stage. He remembered being younger, watching his father figure staring in the mirror as he practiced his speeches, stumbling and stuttering over every second word.

"Uh…" Joe blinked rapidly. He looked to Barry, who elbowed him in the side in response, still smiling as he looked into the darkness of the camera lens in front of him. As he looked at the grim faces in front of them, microphones held in their faces. Finally, Joe cleared his throat and held up a thumbs up. "I'll do that."

Once the words escaped Joe's lips, all eyes and the cameras turned back toward Mayor Bellows. Mayor Bellows stared at the two for a moment then said, "And that's why he's not a politician," to the laughter of the media crew.

"I hate that," Joe murmured, lowering his head. He turned on his heel and headed towards his office. Barry quickly nodded to the group around him and fell in step with Joe. "I hate when people put me on the spot like that."

"Isn't that the point of being part of the police?" Barry reminded him, the side of his mouth turned up. "That you're put in tough situations you have to work through in a moment's notice?" Joe grumbled to himself, bobbing his head back and forth at Barry's words. "So guns don't scare you but public speaking does?"

"Can it, Barry."

Barry laughed once more, unable to ignore the irony of the situation. The same man who took him in when he had nothing, after losing his parents, the same man who was the best cop he'd ever seen, was the one who did his best not to let fear get in the way of anything…didn't like to have a lot of attention on him.

"Have you ever thought about running against him?" Barry asked. Joe looked at him with a raised eyebrow, prompting Barry to toss his head back towards Mayor Bellows.

"Please," Joe snorted. The two stopped by the receptionist desk, waiting as Jordan flittered through the pages that sat in front of her. She seemed oblivious to the men standing in front of her as she continued to murmur, rifling through her pages. Joe gently cleared his throat.

"I'll be with you in a minute," Jordan said distractedly.

Joe cleared his throat even louder. Jordan finally looked up, her blue eyes widened in horror and she quickly shuttered the papers together into a haphazard, messy pile. "Oh, Detective West. I'm sorry. I, uh, thought you might've been another part of media. They've been hounding me for badges all morning and I've already lost one." She tucked her hair behind her ears, smiling sheepishly. "I probably shouldn't have told you that, but…it's been a long day."

"It's still the morning," Barry reminded her.

"I know," Jordan agreed. Ten she noticed who she was speaking to and her eyes widened in surprise and excitement. "You're Barry Allen!" She reached out her hands and grabbed Barry's between hers, shaking it with gusto. "I'm so glad to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Joe and Captain Singh and all the other guys here."

"Good things I hope," Barry replied, instantly remembering how everyone used to call him Baby Face at almost every turn. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, right. I've heard so much about you, it's like I already know you. Sorry, um, I'm Jordan." She kept shaking his hand, then finally dropped it. So suddenly that Barry's hand dropped against the desktop before he could bring it back to safety. Jordan winced, jumped, clasping her hands over her mouth. "Sorry!"

"That's alright," Barry reassured her.

"We'll see you later, Jordan," Joe said, motioning for Barry to follow him.

"Detective? Didn't you come up here for something?" Barry looked back and forth between Joe and Jordan as Joe looked at her with narrowed eyes. Jordan swallowed hard, curling her fingers on her desk. "Um, well, you only come up here for messages, notes from Captain Singh. There's been no notes left from the Captain." She cleared her throat and continued to flip through the pages before her. "But there's a note for you from—"

"—That's alright, Jordan, I'll pick it up later," Joe said pointedly. He looked to Barry for a second. The second that Barry could've stretched for a minute to understand what it meant, but didn't otherwise. He saw the look, and knew something was up. So much so that he couldn't help but watch Joe as they headed towards his lab.

"What?" Joe finally asked, voice gruff with impatience.

"Nothing," Barry replied. "Just that there's something…" he hummed, waving his hands in the air. "Different about you."

"Different? What different? I'm not different."

"Okay, Joe. Okay." Barry held up his hands defensively, made sure to back away from Joe as he slipped through the door of his lab. He ignored the pile of cases that he still needed to go through. He hadn't been lying that he'd been putting it off due to how long some of them took, some of them being cases he never wanted to revisit.

There was still one case he couldn't quite get over. There were too many people who'd lost their parents; their mother, or father, or both due to horrific crimes. He couldn't forget how it was a similar case he'd been working on, with a mother that had been murdered, shortly around the time he'd met Cadence and Brady for the first time. When Roy Bivolo had whammied him to see his own mother everywhere, as he worked through his own sadness around her death.

He walked over to the large evidence board pushed to the side of his office and pulled on the string attached to a rolled-up sheet. It slid down, completely empty. Barry nodded at Joe's question, "You took the photos down from your mom's case?", shrugged. "Her case was solved, this is a new one we have to start." But he didn't mention anything about how hard it was for him to take everything down.

To take down the newspaper clippings, the photographs, all the anecdotal evidence he had linked together by strings of red that connected the pieces together. It was like a part of him had been taken down, brushed away into nothing. It was equally cathartic and painful.

"So we've got a new case to go after," Barry said. He pulled down the sheet, fastened it in place, and tapped the middle of the sheet. "What we know so far, is that there's a man who's a new meta. A meta we've created when I was taken out of the Speed Force."

"And this meta is someone who knows more about us than we know about him," Joe replied. "Which…honestly, isn't so weird considering the people we've come across lately."

Barry nodded in agreement. He continued to tap his fingers against the sheet. Almost nervously. "I was thinking, how many other people could we have exposed to the dark matter we sent out. The place I came out was at an intersection where there could have been hundreds of people around."

"And all of those people could've become a meta," Joe agreed. "Or at least had the potential to become one."

Barry nodded. He took in a deep breath, placed a hand on his hips. Admitted the one part he wasn't sure of but had a feeling was true. "Those that were the closest to the Particle Accelerator explosion, became a metahuman," he remarked. He started to count off on his fingers. "Me, Cisco, Caitlin, Hartley, Ronnie…all the others that might've survived the Particle Accelerator explosion, they could've been metas, too. That dark matter wave went across Central City, shot me in the chest, amped up Cade's powers, amped up the Assassination Bureau's powers, turned Brady and Leah into metas…and countless others that we've dealt with over the past few years."

"Right."

"But the portal I opened, in comparison to the Particle Accelerator, was tiny. And pin holed." Joe lifted an eyebrow, listening quietly. Barry quickly clarified. "'Only a certain amount of people would've been flooded by the dark matter to have become metas."

"Like that man we're looking for."

"That," Barry agreed. He paused. "And a bus full of people."

"So…you're saying there was enough dark matter that a bus load of people could've been turned into metahumans?" Joe's voice was filled with an equal amount of confusion, wonder, and sarcasm.

Barry chewed his lip. "I'm saying there was enough dark matter that a bus load of people _did _turn into metahumans," he said. Joe's jaw dropped, a low "uhhh" escaping his lip as he tried to take in the revelation. "I remember…when I came out of the Speed Force and ran all the way to Ivy city, I remember chasing Savitar. But I remembered exactly where I came out and where I went. When I came out, there was a bus that stopped just in front of the portal so not to be sucked inside. It got the full blast of the dark matter wave."

Silence.

"Okay…" Joe said slowly. He brought up a hand to rub his forehead. "So there was a bus full of people that became metas. But…there are thousands of people that ride the bus on a daily basis. How are we going to figure out who was on the bus at the time, or who was driving it?"

"Easy." Barry leaned to the side, allowed the Speed Force to fill him and raced to Central City's Department of Transportation, moved an employee out of the away, commandeered his computer, went through the records, found the information he was looking for, and raced back to the CCPD all within a second. Joe waited for Barry to speak. "Yeah…" Barry hesitated, grimacing. "That's the interesting part. He's dead." Joe's eyebrows rose. "Drowned." They rose even further. "In his own bathtub."

Joe sucked in a deep breath and turned on his heel, starting to pace the floor of the lab. He looked over the beakers that lined the shelves and racks of Barry's lab and, finally, said, "That's not suspicious. We go looking for someone to get any information and they wind up dead." He shook his head. "It's not the first time it's happened, but it doesn't make it any less suspicious. Meta or not."

"I think it's all connected," Barry admitted. He folded his arms over his chest, holding himself together for the tidal wave of information that was coming to light. "The Samuroid, me coming out of the Speed Fforce at that specific spot, the bus being at the exact right place to be hit by dark matter."

"It was planned?"

"Yeah, by someone really smart."

Joe looked a little disgruntled. "We're pretty smart."

"I think so," Barry agreed. _But smart enough to figure this out? When it already took us this long to figure out how all of this was connected. _Barry pressed his lips together. There were more than enough things they had to deal with at the time, but they could figure out who or what would become a meta. Then again, now that he thought of it, he hadn't seen a Meta Spider around in a long time, as far as he knew, they were still in STAR Labs' basement. But as far as he knew, Meta Spiders worked on their own accord and someone had set everything of his re-appearance up.

As if they knew what was going to happen…

It wasn't the first time something like that had happened, but back then, the person who had been behind everything, who had known everything that was going to happen before it happen, who was able to tailor and switch things around to fulfill his own personal agenda…was Harrison Wells. Or, rather, Eobard Thawne, who had mind-melded with Harrison long before any of them knew what mind-melding was. Or that he was someone who would betray their team.

It seemed so long ago that they'd figure out his real identity. And while Barry had grown to become used to and trust Harrison Wells as himself, there was always a tiny part of him that worried Harrison had taken on so much of Eobard Thawne that he would come to betray them once more. So far he'd been wrong but…

_If that were the case, you wouldn't trust Cade either, _Barry reminded himself. _Let alone marry her. _He didn't have cold feet for the wedding, per se. But there were things that he questioned. She hadn't killed him, had broken away from the Assassination Bureau, but had then turned around and forced Killer Frost to take the cure that would forcibly turn her back to Caitlin after having switched places with Burnout to trick Savitar into thinking he'd killed her when it was actually her Earth-2 Doppelganger that had taken the fatal blow.

"We'll need to look closer into the bus driver's death," Joe said, breaking into Barry's thoughts. Barry blinked rapidly, working to figure out what Joe was talking about in the seconds it took for him to get lost in his thoughts. Joe had stopped pacing and was now nodding, agreeing with Barry's statements. Barry couldn't help but smile. Even if Joe didn't understand everything Barry was saying, or knew much about metahumans, his faith in Barry and Barry's lead was still unparalleled. "May get a lead."

"I'll have Iris pull up the autopsy report from the coroner's office," Barry agreed.

Joe nodded. He looked to Barry, noticed Barry's smile, looked away, then did a double take. Barry continued to smile back at him. This time an even wider smile than he'd give seconds before. Joe's eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. His own eyes took a trip, looking Barry up and down before asking, "What?" through nearly gritted teeth.

"I don't know," Barry replied slowly. He continued to study Joe. Face screwing up as much as Joe's did, nearly mimicking his expression completely. "There's just something about you…you're glowing." That was it. Something about Joe had been different lately, but Barry couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Like, you've got a warmth about you. Like a Lite-Brite!" He almost laughed out loud—but didn't, knowing it'd make Joe even more annoyed—suddenly remembering 'Glow Stick' as one of the names that Cisco had suggested to Cadence for her superhero name.

A horrible name, but it wasn't the worst on the list that Cisco had come up with at the time.

Joe, however, didn't see any humor in the situation as his bewildered expression twisted into one that was nearly a snarl. Barry's smile dropped and he took a step back, watching Joe. Joe lifted a hand and pointed a finger towards Barry. "There's no warmth, no glow, and I ain't no damn Lite-Brite."

Barry held up his hands. "Okay! Okay."

"And anyway, we're wasting time." Joe pointed behind him. "We have to get to STAR Labs." He turned and started to leave the room, seeming to hear Barry's low murmur of "Glowing and irritable," under his breath that made Barry react nervously; racing forward to grab Joe's shoulder.

Joe immediately shook him off. "I already have a queasy stomach, I don't think your super speed is going to help it at all. We'll take my care." Barry held up his hands and followed Joe down to his squad car. He watched with curiosity as Joe waved off Jordan, who called across the lobby to give Joe a message from DA Cecile Horton. He stayed silent as they got into the car and rove to STAR Labs. At least, as long as it took for Joe to bark, "Stop doing that!"

Barry jumped and sat up straight in the passenger seat, extending his legs the best he could in the footwell. "What? Stop doing what?"

"Stop tapping your finger like that!"

"I'm not tapping my fingers!"

"You're super-speed tapping your fingers, it's making the car shake." Joe glanced at Barry to make sure he stopped what he was doing. He let out a long, heavy sigh when they pulled up to a stoplight. "I'm sorry, Bare. It's just…all of this has me on edge." Barry stayed silent, waiting for Joe to speak. Partially out of respect for the man, and partially because he was afraid of being barked at again. He was in his twenties but the idea of Joe being mad at him was still something that affected him more than heliked to admit. "First the Speed Force takes you and we have to live in a world without the Flash for six months…" he shook his head. "I don't know about you, but even though Team Flash did a good job of keeping things going, I almost couldn't. The idea of you having to leave…" He took in a deep breath, voice slightly breaking as he said, "You left without saying goodbye."

Barry's heart sank to his feet. He knew that. Knew how much it had to have hurt. His heart hurt as he raced out to the city streets and walked into the Speed Force without alerting his team what he was doing. But there had been no point in doing so, he had no time, had to get the city to safety as quickly as possible. If he stopped to say goodbye, other people would've died or been injured as badly.

"It hurt," Joe continued. "It really hurt. But I understood why you had to do it." He looked over at Barry with a small smile. "It was hard to move on. There was a Barry shaped hole in my life that couldn't be filled by anyone else. So when you came back out of the Speed Force, I'd hoped there was a _little _bit of normalcy before things went to hell in a handbasket again." The light turned green and he started forward once more. "Though I really didn't miss your tapping."

"I don't tap," Barry said through a grin.

"You really don't notice it because you do it with your superspeed," Joe denied. He shook his head. "And you didn't even know you did it _before _you had your powers. It would drive Iris and I crazy when, on long drives, the sound of you tapping your fingers could be heard over all the music."

"I guess I never realized I did it."

"You wouldn't have…I didn't realize how much I missed it until you did it again. Reminds me that you're actually here."

"Yeah, not unless we can figure out who it is that's trying to kill me."

"Aren't you used to that by now?"

"Not when it's someone who knows me so well." Barry lifted his head from his upraised fist, finally allowing himself to look Joe in the eye. Joe looked back at him. Something passed over his face that spurned Barry forward. "You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?"

"That depends…" Joe said slowly. "What are you thinking?"

"That whomever orchestrated all of this…it may be someone who's watched us closely, knows everything about me and my powers to ensured that I came out of the Speed Force." He shrugged. "I don't know why, if they want to get rid of me, they'd take me out. But they keep testing me with the Samuroid. Testing my powers and only wants me. Whomever is making the Samuroids knows everything about me. As if they'd been working beside me all along."

Joe took in a deep breath.

Barry pursed his lips.

Waited.

"You think it's Harrison Wells?" Joe asked.

"Maybe," Barry said slowly. "I don't think it's Dr. Wells, I think it may be the Reverse-Flash. I think it may be Eobard Thawne." Joe made a low sound that proved he wasn't following Barry's train of thought. "When we knew the Reverse-Flash as the Reverse-Flash, before he revealed his identity to us, he would knock Cade aside whenever he attacked. As if he didn't want her to get hurt. We didn't know at that at the time. I just thought the Reverse-Flash was more concerned with getting rid of me and didn't want to bother her. But then we found out the Reverse-Flash was Dr. Wells, or, more importantly, Eobard Thawne _and _Dr. Wells."

"Because of the mind-meld," Joe agreed.

"Right. But we didn't know that then. But we know more about it now. I experienced a mind-meld with the Earth-2 Doppelganger of myself and when I did, it was like everything form his life downloaded into my brain. And mine into his. I saw his life, with his parents alive, with him sad and alone, with him not being close to you or Iris. But he saw my life with mom dead and dad in Iron Heights. We're connected since then, every now and then we feel what each other feels and see what each other sees, sometimes its hard to remember if a memory I have is my memory or his."

"Okay…"

"Then we find out the longer you mind-meld, the better chance you have to eventually take over the other's body. We saw that with Dr. Wells and Eobard. Think of how much time they'd mind-melded; Harrison turned into a completely different person, mostly taken over by Eobard and tried to kill me…because he hated me. How do we know that, even though they split, that Dr. Wells doesn't still have traces of Eobard within him that still hated me, and wanted to kill me."

Joe stayed silent.

"You were thinking it, too, weren't you?" Barry pressed.

"Not to the same extent you were but…the thought crossed my mind." Joe shook his head, staring forward as they drove. "I don't know, bare. Since their split, Dr. Wells, every iteration of him, has been an all of ours. I can't quiet imagine he'd come after you now, when so much has already gone on. Don't you think he'd think we'd suspect him first?"

Barry shrugged. "I'm not sure. We can never be sure with Eobard Thawne."

"You got that right." Another long stretch of silence. "If that's the case, then wouldn't there have been any residual affects from your mind-melding with Earth-2 Barry?" He continued before Barry could defend himself. "Not that we'd know the difference anyway." He laughed as Barry rolled his eyes. "Are you sure that's the only thing on your mind?"

"You mean other than getting married and wondering how long it's going to be until Brady stops hating me? No, there's not much going on," Barry replied sarcastically. He sighed heavily. "I just don't know what to do, Joe." Joe slowly started laughing to himself. "I don't think it's that funny."

"Hey, I did tell you that I'd laugh once your future kids caused you as much problems as you did to me." Joe pulled on the steering wheel, taking them into the STAR Labs parking lot, far from the prying eyes of anyone who may want to see what was going on inside the laboratory. "It's normal to be nervous, Bare. I was nervous when you were going to stay with us. You'd just been through a horrible trauma, we didn't know how long your dad was going to be in prison, or if he even did that to your mom."

"Yeah, but Brady had both of his parents and a place to live. And good friends. He has a good life…"

"That doesn't mean things aren't going to be as hard for him," Joe reminded Barry. He turned off the car, leaning against the steering wheel. "He's going through a lot of changes. Not just through his powers, but because of only just finding out who his father is, trying to have a relationship with that father, getting used to his mom potentially getting married, or even being killed every time she left the house, going out into the field…He's only eleven, Barry, the same age when you were when you first came to live with me. Do you think you could've handled all that when you were his age?"

No. But Barry didn't think Brady could handle everything _he'd _been through either.

Once again, Joe had the power to read Barry's mind as he added, "Trauma isn't a contest, Barry. People react to different things differently. And, you might have to think that there may be a reason why he's so angry with you."

"How am I supposed to figure that out?"

"Just ask him. I've always found that having open and honest conversations with you and Iris has always been best. It might work here, too." Joe pushed open the door to the car and climbed out. Barry followed suit and the two went into STAR Labs, arriving at the Cortex in time for Iris to clap her hands together and wave them in the air. "What're you so happy about, baby?"

"Oh, nothing, just my investigative skills coming out with a win!" Iris brushed off her shoulders, doing a little dance as her father and best friend came closer.

"At least you know how to be modest," Barry said.

Iris blindly reached behind her and smacked Barry on the arm. Then she ran her finger across the screen of the tablet in front of her, screen sharing it to the screen that hung on the wall. A report came up. "Okay, so I've got the Coroner's report for the death of the bus driver. But it doesn't seem like there's any signs of fowl play. Just a regular drowning in a bath tub."

"Seems like regular bad luck to me," Joe remarked.

"I know. Just sitting back, enjoying a soothing bath at the end of a long day, next thing you know…" Iris shook her head. "They logged his personal affects." She started to swipe through the pictures that had been included with the report, speaking aloud what item they saw on each image. "Credit cards, cash, receipts…"

Barry blinked. Something caught his eye. But he wasn't quite sure…Nevertheless, his heart sank. Even more than it had with Joe's declaration of how upset he was when Barry had left. No, this was a feeling of warning. "Go back," Barry said quickly. Iris quickly swiped backwards on the screen, pausing to look over her shoulder as Barry stared at the screen.

Stared at the image that came upon the screen; of a business card with a sloppily written IOU signed by the one and only, "Ralph Dibny," Barry murmured, voice not coming up any higher than a harsh whisper, filled with a rage that he hadn't felt burning in his stomach for years.

"I'll be damned," Joe said. He looked to Barry, who tried to keep his composure despite his shaking hands.

"Who?" Iris turned to look up at her father and best friend. Her eyes shot back and froth between them, waiting for a response. Barry kept his lips together, afraid of what would come out if he allowed himself to even _try _to explain what'd happened.

"He used to be a cop," Joe explained.

"A dirty cop," Barry burst out before he could stop himself. He walked closer to the screen, all thoughts of Dr. Wells, Eobard Thawne, Brady, and Samuroids disappearing from his mind. All that space only to be filled up with one of the people he disliked the most in the world. He grimaced as the picture of the IOU changed to a picture of Ralph Dibny, dressed in his officer uniform from years ago with a large Jim Carrey-esque smile on his face. "He got kicked off the force."

"For what?" Iris asked. She studied the picture. "I can't imagine anyone as handsome as him doing anything wrong. Not in that square-jawed Oliver queen kind of way."

Barry clocked in on Iris's tone and turned to look at his best friend. She tore her eyes away from the picture, smiling innocently. He quirked an eyebrow. "For real?" He asked, voice filled with disdain. Not just because she thought Ralph Dibny was handsome, but because she'd even entertain the thought of it. "The IOU is dated the same day I came out of the Speed Force," he realized, focusing on the information in front of him once more.

"You think Dibny was on the bus that day?" Joe asked. "That he may be a meta?"

"What bus?" Iris asked. "Why would he be a meta?"

"It's a long story," Barry declared. "I'll tell you later. But right now, I have to pay Ralph a visit." He turned on his heel and raced from the Cortex before Joe or Iris could stop him. It wouldn't take him too long for find Ralph, there were only a few places that disgraced former policeman could go, anyway.

And if any of them were like Ralph, Barry had a really good idea of where he'd go.

But, it wasn't until he was halfway out of STAR Labs, that Barry realized Joe had never truly told him what was wrong and why the DA was looking for him.

* * *

**A/N:** You know, I never really understood why they had Barry and Joe go from STAR Labs to the CCPD and then back to STAR Labs within three scenes...and I don't know why I did it here but oh well! Lol! I haven't had a scene with a lot of Barry and Joe interaction in a while. And there was a lot of things they covered, Barry's fears of being a dad, Barry's relationship with Joe, and both of their suspicions with Harrison potentially being the one to have trick them and…well…something else I'd been hinting at since just before and when _Friction _ended.

Also, I haven't forgotten about Ryder or Maya, they're pretty big in this story, just have to bring em' in once more!

And look at that, the first look at Ralph! :)

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	18. Cait and Cade and Barry and Brady

**17**

_Cait and Cade and Barry and Brady_

* * *

Cadence took in a deep breath as she entered the Saints and Sinner Bar. She ignored all the low wolf whistles and leers that came her way from the male patrons, and the suspicious glares that came from the female ones. The daylight that leaked through the windows faded the further she walked inside, the blackout curtains working its intended purpose. There weren't too many around, though she'd been in the medical field long enough to know there were those that were able to go to bars at any time of the day.

Functioning alcoholics as they were typically referred to. Others that were coming off a long night shift looking for something stiffer than coffee to drink. She'd been on that end of the spectrum once having spent long, long nights of studying and taking tests in coffee shops and iHops with her classmates where they'd reward themselves with a good drink once their studying was done or they received a good grade on a test. It seemed so long ago that all of it seemed to come to a head of nothing…where she'd been kicked out of her residency for all of the times she was late or had missed on a rotation due to the Assassination Bureau and other metahuman things.

She could only imagine what they thought of her now, working with the CCPD in their family services division. Or, rather, if they knew what would happen now that she was walking into a bar in the middle of the day, her muscles a trigger of muscle memory away from burning the place to the ground. Especially if she didn't get the answers she was looking for.

Cadence walked to the back of the bar, slowing when she felt a hand move from her shoulder—a movement that had startled her for a second (she scolded herself for not anticipating someone moving to stop her)—down to her wrist. She quickly whipped around, facing Matthew Norvok, and rolled her eyes as he loomed over her.

"You've got some nerve coming back here," He rumbled, sightless eye moving over her. "Amunet's not going to be happy to see you."

"Amunet's not happy to see _you _on a general basis," Cadence replied with a sweet smile. "What makes you think I'm worried about me?" She shook her hair back from her face. "Besides, I'm not here about me. I'm here on other business."

"Police business," Norvok replied. Cadence's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, we know all about the job you've got going on right now. Working with the police when we know you've got all the information you need from me, from Amunet, from the Market…" He moved closer to her then winced, taking a step back almost immediately after.

Cadence's lips pulled back into a small smile. "What's the matter, Norvok?" She asked, moving closer to him, once more, he took another step back. "Is it getting a little hot in here for you?" She moved closer, reaching out a hand. Her skin didn't even come close to grazing his and he turned his body away, brushing his long hair away from his forehead. At least, feigned as he did, Cadence saw the bead of sweat that rolled over his forehead, a light sheen coming to his face. "You want to keep from being flambéed, I suggest you let me talk to Amunet."

"Amunet's not going to like that you're here without her knowledge," Norvok insisted.

"And you're going to be the one to stop me?" Cadence replied. "And as I know for her, she'll be interested in what it is I have to ask her. Now, are you going to stay in my way, or are you going to keep trying your poor excuse of being a bodyguard?" She thought for a moment, eyes roving the bar. "There's something she really wants to keep secret?"

Norvok sucked in a deep, rumbling breath. Cadence continued to stare at him, watching as he squirmed under her gaze. He turned at the sound of the door opening and another patron walking in, looked over toward the kitchen as there was a loud clanging sound of pots and pans moving together, watched as he brought up a hand and ran it through his long, string mop of hair that fell over his forehead. He ran the palms of his hands over the sides of his shirt.

"Don't be nervous, Norvok," Cadence teased, turning away from him. "I'm not going to burn you today. Not again."

The side of Norvok's mouth turned up into a snarl. "It's not you I'm worried about. You've gotten away from Amunet once before, because of Breathtaker. But Breathtaker's gone and Amunet knows what she wants." His snarl slowly turned to a smirk. "I hope you understand what that means. She replaces everyone that works for her for someone else. Have you figured out who's replaced you yet?" He moved around her, holding out her arm. "After you."

Cadence hummed and went to the door at the back of the bar, Norvok following closely behind her. She slipped through and went down to the basement of the bar. The sound of skin hitting skin filled her ears as she went, heavy blows that, judging by the sounds of the grunts, were being rained upon someone who wasn't going to last much longer. Turning the corner, Cadence watched as two bloodied men slumped against the ropes of a wrestling ring, working to keep themselves up. Their chests rose and fell, blood slicked over their bodies, dripping form the gashes in their faces, skin on their arms and chests bright pink and scraped. And yet, they still worked to keep themselves upright.

Then she saw Amunet sitting crossed-legged in a chair by the ring, quietly sipping a cup of tee as she watched the spectacle in front of her. She winced every now and then, before giggling with pleasure when a particularly bad blow was dealt. Cadence moved closer, her stomach rolling in dismay despite the stoic expression she kept on her face. She kept herself from reacting to it outwardly, though her stomach rolled, clenching with each hit of one of the men to the other.

"Oh, don't give up yet," Amunet cooed when one of the men slammed to the ground of the ring. "I haven't had my chance to really enjoy it yet." She lifted her cup into the air. "I was too busy trying to swallow this swill that you Americans call tea. Remind me to get some of that English export the next time I meet with my York handler." She then looked over and saw Cadence, her eyes lighting up. "Cadey! So good to see you! Come, come." She stood, waving her hands towards Cadence, all but making kissing noises to draw her nearer. When Cadence was within her grasp, she took the firestarter's hands and pulled her forward. Then let go of her and waved off her palms. "Wow, looks like someone's really getting an idea of what her powers can do." She tapped Cadence on the nose, making her jerk her head away.

"I didn't come here for a round of gossip, Amunet," Cadence said. "I've got a question to ask you and once I get my answer, I'm out of here."

Amunet forced her lips into a pout. "Spoilsport. I was hoping to have another round of entertainment for the day." She waved her hand towards the two in the ring who were now being dragged away by two tall bodyguards, leaving long smears of blood behind them as they were pulled. She turned back to Cadence, eyes flashing with amusement. "How long has it been since you were in a fight? I mean…" her eyes roved over Cadence's body. "I'm sure there had to have been some sort of catfight throughout your history. In high school at least. Did you steal anyone's boyfriends?"

Cadence rolled her eyes.

"Well, you might not have _stolen _the boyfriends, but I'm sure your presence was enough. You _do _have a son."

Immediately, Cadence bristled. She could handle anything being said about her, but the moment anything had to do with Brady, that's where she drew the line. Especially since she knew there was the chance that Amunet could use him as leverage against her, just as Breathtaker had. And, come to find out that Breathtaker had managed to traumatize Brady with the revelation of his identity. She still didn't quite know what Breathtaker and the rest of the Assassination Bureau had done to him while they'd kidnaped him three years before, but it was enough that he still refused to talk about it.

"I have one question for you and then I'm out of your hair, Amunet," Cadence said. She eyed Amunet's long blonde hair pulled behind her in a braided ponytail. "What'll be left of it, anyway." Her eyes flashed.

Amunet's smile widened. "You've got a little bit of a fire in you." She pointed toward Cadence, wiggling her finger. "'I made a little pun. Isn't it funny?" She reached out, patting Cadence's cheek as she moved to stand by the boxing ring, making tsking sounds under her breath as she watched the blood dry along the canvas, creating a rust colored smear. "You're not as funny as I remember, so what is it? What do you want from me?"

"I want to know if you're selling metal," Cadence said. Amunet cast Cadence a glance over her shoulder, stepping into the middle of the ring. Her eyebrows twitched upwards. Cadence sighed and followed Amunet into the boxing ring. She leaned back against the ropes, stretching her arms out as if she were trying to put her arm around a date's shoulders. "If there's anyone who would be doing it, it would be you. I know you have the biggest black market in the city, and I know you corner the market in that area." She lifted an eyebrow. "No pun intended."

"Ah, Cadey, puns should always be intended," Amunet chided her. She folded her arms, starting to pace. "Now, there's always something I'm working on to make the city a better place. I do singlehandedly keep up the city's economy considering how much Flash and Flare keep destroying it."

Cadence hummed quietly.

"Now, what sort of metal are we talking about?" Amunet continued. She waved a hand in the air, then tapped her fingertip against her chin. "Aluminum, Copper, stainless steel, lead brass, titanium, zinc, iron, bronze, nickel—"

"—I don't need you to give me your entire life's story, Amunet. There's a specific metal I'm looking for and its indestructible." She watched for any glimmer of interest in Amunet's eyes to prove what she already knew. "Nothing can get through. No bullets, no swords, nothing can break it down."

"Hmm."

"You ever heard of anything that can do that?"

"Well, there has been this metal called chromium that people have discovered," Amunet said. She reached down by the side of the boxing ring and picked up a bucket. She swung it around, alerting Cadence to the sound of pieces of metal shifting around inside. "The hardest mineral in the universe is the diamond. But the hardest metal is the chromium."

Cadence watched Amunet, only moving her eyes. She kept her hands tightened along the ropes of the ring, gently pushing herself back and forth, using the ropes to bounce her weight off. Very reminiscent to the way she and her cheerleading squad used to use resistance bands in more creative, fun, and painful ways than they were supposed to be used. (She still remembered the way Chelsea Saltzman dislocated her shoulder because they'd used one in increasing strange ways as the days went on). Amunet continued to glide across the boxing ring, moving back and forth in a systematic way that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Cadence could see Norvok out the corner of her eye, watching Amunet closely, eyes bouncing around as if unsure of what she was doing.

"There's a Samuroid that's been attacking the Flash," Cadence continued.

Amunet wiggled her finger once more. "Yes, I've heard about that." She stopped pacing and stood in front of Cadence, pressing the tip of her finger to the tip of the Firestarter's nose. "But what does that have to do with me? Or you, perchance? It's not like I have anything to do with wanting to take down the Flash. I mean, those six months with him gone, making it so that I've been able to spread my presence among the city has been the best gift I could've ever been given. And, the last I've checked, you do more to keep the scum off the streets with the CCPD than the things that they bring to the streets."

Cadence took in a deep breath. "Do you know who's buying the metal or not?"

"Not." Amunet twisted her mouth to the side. "I like to deal with money and power but the person who's wanted that metal, who's used my resources didn't give me much in response of what I could want."

"And what did they give you in return? Along with the money."

"Knowledge."

Cadence's face screwed up in confusion. There was much to be said of the idea that knowledge was power. It'd been touted to her since she was in elementary school and had proven to be right when it came to the information she received while working with Breathtaker. Not just information on others, but information on herself as well. And Amunet and the Black Network were the ones who managed to get all the information STAR Labs had created about metahumans they'd come across.

Amunet had never come out and said she knew Cadence was Flare, but she hadn't needed to. The realization of that information hanging over her head so long was just a matter of when Amunet would prosper from it. It was no wonder she'd kept Cadence in her back pocket for as long as she'd worked with Breathtaker.

_She always did say you were her favorite henchmen, _Cadence reminded herself. She continued to watch Amunet as the seconds passed, knowing it was only a matter of time until something was going to happen. Either Amunet spilled everything or…Cadence's eyes roved over Amunet's face, suddenly noticing the woman's eyes shift to just over Cadence's shoulders before bringing it back.

She steeled herself.

"Do you know who made the Samuroid?" Cadence asked slowly, enunciated carefully. "Who's been targeting the Flash?"

"Sorry." Amunet drew her pinched together fingers over her lips, zipping them. "But my lips are sealed. I can't reveal that information. But what I _can _tell you is that I've got a lot of money for it and I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth." She pressed her fingers to her lips and giggled quietly to herself. "It's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. But if you really want a hint as to what's to come, Cadey. Well, then I'd always be sure to keep looking over your shoulder."

Cadence's eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to respond, to ask what it was Amunet was going in circles to not quite say, then stopped. All at once, everything screamed at her. The way Amunet was pacing, the way Amunet was watching her so closely, the way Norvok was so eager to let her into the basement to even _see _Amunet, the way he was watching them closely, the way all of it was transpiring.

It sent warning messages into her head. Almost too late for her to save herself. Almost.

Cadence ducked down, dropping all her weight so that she landed in a split. A cool jet of air flew overhead, at the same time. Knocking her loose hair back from her face. Cadence dropped cleanly into the split then brought herself back up, using the spring of the rope to jettison herself upwards, crouching low and balancing easily on the top rope of the ring.

She glared as Killer Frost turned back toward her, brushing her hair over her shoulders. Her blue lips pulled back into the tiniest of smirks, her eyes meeting Cadence's. "You can't do anything without a show can you?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Cadence replied. She tightened her grasp on the rope. It started to smoke beneath her hands. "How long have you wanted to say you were Killer Frost again?"

"_Again?" _Killer Frost's eyebrows rose. She scoffed, pouted, tilted her head in pity. "You really don't get it, do you? Well, it took a while for Caitlin to get it as well but, she's always had a soft spot for you guys."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Killer Frost sighed. "You'd think by now all of you would be able to come up with some new lines. It's not like it's going to keep you from your defeat." Killer Frost lifted her hand and rested it on the top rope, tapping her fingertips against it. A sheen of ice slowly started to stretch along the rope, moving closer to towards Cadence, who continued to crouch like a bat, but right-side up. "Is it wrong to say I missed you? And that's coming from me, not Caitlin."

Cadence sank even further on the rope and sprang upwards, leaping through the air toward Killer Frost. As she arched through the air, she saw Killer Frost bringing her hand up, curling her hand toward Cadence's chest as she flew overhead, to strike her in the chest with a spear of ice that started to form. Cadence's lips curled, watching it all play out in slow motion. teleported to just below Killer Frost, knocking her feet from beneath her, then teleporting once more to kick her in the back. Surprised, Killer Frost landed hard on the mat face first, arms stretched out above her head. Cadence landed in a crouch on the floor of the boxing ring behind her, watching Killer Frost carefully.

Lifting her chin, Killer Frost whipped her head around and glared at Cadence. She pressed her hands flat to the floor of the ring and pressed hard. To push herself up and…to drive an ice spike through Cadence's foot. The sensation burned; from the pain of the spike and from the cold that immediately swept through and numbed her foot. Cadence screamed out in surprise more than it actually hurt her foot, more than the surprise of watching the spike drive up through her skin, pushing bone, muscle, and cartilage out of the way, to allow a fountain of blood to spurt out of her like a fountain, immediately freezing against the ground.

Killer Frost smoothly glided back to her feet and turned to Cadence. "I don't want to fight you, I just want you to listen." She watched as Cadence struggled to take her foot off the spike, the muscle beside her mouth twitching when she did so, the firestarter's wound making a sucking sound as she did so. "That had to hurt."

"I'm used to it," Cadence wheezed. She leaned against the ropes, tightly holding onto it as she watched her foot slowly heel. There was saving her skin, but there wasn't saving her shoes. "You've learned some new tricks, coming back from the dead." She lifted her chin, eyes igniting with a flame from within.

"Whoever said I died."

Cadence ignored her. "But I learned some new stuff, too." Once more, she pressed her weight against the ropes and used it to spring herself forward. As she flew across the room, she fire from her feet jet propelled her toward Killer Frost, who's eyes widened into surprise horror. Especially when the fire then moved to completely encompass Cadence's body, wrapping her from head to foot, before slamming straight into her chest, sending Killer Frost back into the ropes. The force of the hit was hard enough that Killer Frost was ping-ponged back across from the other side.

Cadence lifted her foot and roundhouse kicked Killer Frost in the face. Killer Frost was knocked to the side and knocked off another set of ropes to where Cadence teleported into the middle of her path, a solid strike of her arm knocking her flat back to the ground. Steam rose around them, thickening the air as the ice below them melted.

Killer Frost rolled to her side, her face a bloody mess, glaring up at Cadence. She spat blood to the ground, ran a hand along her mouth. "You tried to kill me once," she said. "Forcing Caitlin to take that cure. Why are you holding back now?"

"Because, when you die…when you actually die…I want to make it hurt," Cadence replied. Fire blazed around her fingertips. Killer Frost pulled herself to her knees, icicles crystalizing around her hands in turn. They stepped back and headed toward each other, only stopping when a wall of metal formed between them. Baring her teeth, Cadence whipped her head to the side, watching as Amunet, with a metal gauntlet around her arm, held her fist out, watching the two with glee.

"Ladies, ladies, don't get too lost in your catfight yet," Amunet said, lowering her hands to her sides. "Truth is, I'm going to need you both." She rubbed her hands together gleefully. "And there's a lot of money in it for the both of you."

"Blood money," Cadence spat.

"Well, all the money I use I consider blood money, darling," Amunet's voice held a tiny bit of indignation. "Not that it bothers me too much. But like I said, I need the both of you and I can make it worth your while. I've said knowledge is power, and the one who I sold the metal to…well, they're a pretty powerful person." She looked at Amunet. "I can tell you what they know and how it'll help you and Flash."

Even Killer Frost made a face of surprise at Amunet's knowledge of Cadence working with Flash. Within the same second, Cadence's mind whirled, trying to remember if, the last few times she'd met up with Amunet, if there was any reason for her to know about her involvement with the Flash. Let alone if she actually knew their identity.

"What do they know?" Cadence asked.

"Ah ah ah, first you have to do something for me," Amunet said. "I mean, you _did _just spill some blood all over my floor because of whatever conflict you two have."

"Where'd you get the metal?" Cadence demanded.

"I found it." Amunet brought up a hand to her mouth and yawned. She exited the boxing ring and walked back to the chair she'd been sitting in before. "I thought it would be something I could use to my own means." She curled her fingers, the metal around her gauntlet making a clanking sound as she did so. "Turns out I was right. But then I had a gentleman caller come to me and say he could use that metal himself, to test the Flash. And who am I turn down a big sale?" She rested her cheek in her upraised palm. "And what do I care what they use my items for, it's a Black Market for goodness sake."

"What about Killer Frost?"

"She came to me." Amunet blinked at Cadence. "But it was my understanding that, at the time, she wasn't Killer Frost. If you ask me, Caitlin is a lot more plateable. But I had something she wanted and I gave it to her for her to work for me. And, may I say, Killer Frost? Not so Killer. There may be some people here who are afraid of her, but I haven't seen her kill anyone yet. Must be the Caitlin part of her keeping her back."

Cadence's mouth twitched. She looked to Killer Frost, then Amunet, then dropped her arms, making sure both Amunet and Killer Frost saw so. _Knowledge is power…_her mind was already moving a mile a minute. A tiny smirk came to her face, so tiny it was almost unnoticeable.

"Anyway, I needed her at the time, I gave her something in return, and now I need you. That icy one tried to get away from me, but I have too much on her before she can do that. And she's too desperate not to become what she hates the most."

"What do you want from me?" Cadence asked.

"I'll let you know when I need you again." Amunet waved her hand. "You already got what you needed from me, I'll let you know what I need from you." She jerked her thumb towards Killer Frost, who suddenly stumbled, bringing her hand to her stomach, creeping toward her chest. "But you might want to take her with you. She's been looking a little pathetic lately, if you know what I mean." Amunet's eyes shifted toward Norvok and her almost permanent smile faded into an annoyed one. "Don't you have something better to do?"

Cadence ignored Amunet and Norvok, turning to Killer Frost instead. She watched, warily, as Killer Frost slowly sank to her knees, bringing her hands to her chest. She lifted her head to glare at Cadence, making Cadence's eyebrows come together when she noticed the chance. Killer Frost's eyes were no longer an icy blue, but a chocolate brown. A worried chocolate brown, the same look she'd seen Caitlin give her many times before.

Seeing Cadence notice, Killer Frost got to her feet and, stumbling, hurried out of the basement. Cadence followed after her, watching as she continued to stumble, grasping onto anything and everything she could use to keep herself up. Finally, Caitlin collapsed onto a chainlink fence, holding onto it for dear life.

"Not yet," Killer Frost moaned. She closed her eyes as she turned back, white hair shifting brown in an unsightly ombre until it returned to its original color. She opened her eyes, shoulders slumping with regret. Eyes turning downcast when she realized where she was. "Not again."

Cadence moved to Caitlin's side, watching her closely. There was a brief moment of silence between them before Caitlin chuckled humorlessly. "I guess we both can't do what we wanted," She said. "You couldn't kill Killer Frost and…I still can't stay away from you guys. No matter how hard I try."

"You had a hand in bringing Barry back," Cadence reminded her.

"And you still didn't want me in STAR Labs, as part of the team."

"Did you want to come back to the team? Working with Amunet…" Cadence trailed off, not needing to finish. Working with Amunet was a piece of cake compared to working with Breathtaker. But when it came to Breathtaker, that was harder to get away from. Breathtaker was the devil and she sold her soul to him.

"Amunet had something I needed…just like you did." Caitlin slowly pulled herself up.

"Are you okay?"

Caitlin looked up to see Cadence standing beside her, holding out hand. Nodding, Caitlin took it and allowed herself to be pulled forward. She slung her arm around Cadence's shoulders while Cadence put hers around Caitlin's waist, keeping herself when her knees buckled beneath her.

Together, they walked out of the alley and back onto the streets of Central City. When they were far enough away, Cadence said, "You turned back into Killer Frost…I thought I killed her."

"I thought you did too," Caitlin agreed. "It's why I stayed away." She looked Cadence in the eye. "I don't blame you for what you did. I asked you to kill Killer Frost if you got the chance, and you did. You did what I asked. You don't need to feel guilty about it."

"Who's guilty?"

"I'm your best friend, Cade." Caitlin paused. "Or, was…" she added hesitantly. "I can tell whatever you're feeling. I know you wanted to keep me from STAR Labs because of how guilty you felt over injecting me with the cure."

Cadence winced. She still remembered the way her heart rammed against her chest when she mad her decision to take down Killer Frost, no matter what. Barry and Cisco had been for allowing Caitlin/Killer Frost to figure out what it was that they wanted out of life. But Cadence couldn't take that lying down, she'd made a promise to her best friend and if she were able to save her and take down Killer Frost, she was going to take it. And did.

Knowing it had taken Team Flash and fractured them even further…that was the part she wasn't quite sure she could get over. Barry had gone into the Speed Force and as much as they worked to keep going without him, it was an obvious chance when it was him _and _Caitlin who were gone. Both of which fell upon her shoulders; she told Barry to leave, made Caitlin take the cure…

Caitlin looked Cadence in the eye as they continued to move along the sidewalk. "You didn't tell the others what you did." As in, she kept the secret from Cisco and Barry about what she'd done.

"I told Barry," Cadence said after a minute. She chuckled lightly. "One of the few things we could talk about. Didn't keep a secret from each other." Caitlin nodded. She stood up straight, removing her arm from around Cadence's shoulder, silently nodding to Cadence's unasked question. _Are you sure? _"What does Amunet have over you?"

"Once Killer Frost came back, and the cure wore off, I found out she had something, a piece of technology that'd keep me from turning back into her." She motioned to her neck. "A sort of collar. But it didn't always work…and you know Amunet, once you're in…"

"I know."

Silence stretched between them once more. The tension wasn't as great as it had been. Guilt still resided in Cadence's stomach, but if Caitlin said she had no hard feelings about it…then there were no hard feelings. They may not get back to the place they'd been before, best friends who truly trusted each other, but…

"You know…you've really gotten stronger in the time I've been gone," Caitlin remarked. "All that fire power you put out…" she shook her head. "It's almost like you were a different person."

Caitlin words slammed into Cadence's head.

_Cadence slowly fell through the swirling darkness around her. An empty pit that seemed to have no end. But the further she fell, the lighter the darkness seemed to become until she was able to recognize some sort of pattern below her. Something she would only recognize from picture of some of the more beautiful churches in the world. What looked like a stained glass coming toward her._

_Twisting her body around, pointing her head towards the ground, straining to see through the darkness, Cadence found her movements were slow and sluggish, almost as if she were moving through water. She took in a deep breath, remembering the last time she'd been in that scenario, when Breathtaker had attacked her in her mind. The same as when he'd, personally, take over her mind to move his plan forward in killing the Flash, in trying to get to Harrison in…in wanting to get to Brady._

_She should've seen it coming. She'd seen people come and go within the Assassination Bureau, had been the reason for some of their deaths; Breathtaker had no qualms about replacing her with White Hot—Hailey—the moment Cadence decided to break her hold over the group, had known that he was thinking of working with other people—had met with some of the new recruits once, she briefly remembered them going by the name the 2000 Committee, Incognito sacrificed himself and his ability to blend in. She should've known the closest thing he had to replace it, to use it with his own powers, was Brady._

_Part of her even wondered if he'd been the one to ensure she had powers so that Brady would and then…but that was preposterous. About as preposterous as it was that she realized, upon closer inspection of the bright thing she drifted toward, was a platform made of stained glass._

_Swirling around, Cadence dropped her feet toward the ground, wincing as she waited for the glass to crack between her feet. But it didn't move. Didn't shatter. Didn't even crack as she suddenly came to a stop on it. The stop was so sudden that Cadence nearly fell as she hit the ground. She gasped, staring at the stained glass in surprise._

_Each panel of the stained glass was a single color, coming together to create a rainbow of flames that encircled the platform she stood upon. Each way she turned, the colors would change though continue to hold what appeared to be a fire within each piece of glass itself. A fire that burned alive beneath it. As if the stained glass was alive itself._

_"Do you remember this place?"_

_The voice made Cadence whip her head around, moving her arms out to her sides to create flames, her power pose. Then stopped, looking down at her hands when she realized no flames were coming. She felt…ordinary. Powerless. But not afraid._

_"It's been a long time since you've been here,"__ the voice continued._

_Cadence lifted her chin when she saw a bright light seem to stretch upwards into the distance of the darkness. She paused for a moment, eyes shifting around for any trap she may be walking herself into and followed the steps of light up a winding staircase to another platform._

_This time, the shards within the stained glass created a picture of herself, when she was young. Like the last platform, each piece was its own color, with an alive flame within that created the picture. Cadence stared at the picture, recognizing her eight-year-old self._

_"Do you remember now?"_

_Mutely, she nodded._

_She remembered it, remembered how she'd grown sick one day, didn't understand what was happening while her parents were white as ghosts, rushing her off to the hospital. Didn't understand why the kind nurse was being so gentle to her and continuously saying, "I know this isn't comfortable, sweetie, but we've got to get your temperature down," while helping her put on the hospital gown that left her feeling exposed. Didn't understand why doctors were running back and forth as she slowly became sleepy, lying in the big bed, with white sheets bundled up by pillows around her. Didn't understand why her parents were crying as they patted her hand before leaving her alone for the doctors to handle._

_Then she remembered nothing but darkness, a warm darkness that swirled around her in a comforting embrace. Much more comforting than the itchy sheets of the hospital bed. It was so warm and inviting, she didn't want to leave. She didn't remember hearing any voice or seeing any platforms while she was there._

_Wherever 'there'__ is, __Cadence thought._

_"This is the Fire Fall,"__ the voice said, answering her question. "The Fire Fall is where it is determined whether or not the person that retrieves their fire powers has the true heart to wield the power and not fall into temptation."_

_"Temptation?" Cadence repeated._

_"Just as there is light, there is darkness. Just as there are brighter flames, there are darker flames. Light and dark, one cannot live without the other. Just as it is within people."__ A rush of flames appeared in front of Cadence, revealing her eight-year-old self in front of her._

_Cadence's eyebrows twitched together. Eight-year-old-Cadence's eyebrows twitched together as well. When Cadence lifted her hand, her younger self lifted her hand. Every move, every facial expression was mimicked between old and young. Finally, young Cadence dropped her hand, eyes appearing sad as she dropped it to her chest. She lifted her chin and looked up at Cadence, her eyes brimming with sadness and fear._

_"There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."_

_Young Cadence nodded, and the light came back to her eyes, a determined expression coming to her face. She clenched her hand into a fist with flames appearing around it. Young Cadence looked at the flames in awe. Cadence did the same motions, finding, all at once, her powers come back to her. A power boost she could feel from the tip of her toes to her head._

_"What are you afraid of?"__ The voice continued._

_Cadence pressed her lips together. She walked towards young Cadence, who shook her hair out of her eyes and looked up at her. Cadence knelt to her and smoothed her hair back from her younger self's face. Young Cadence smiled widely, closing her eyes against the touch. Cadence smiled back, feeling the familiar warmth, almost like a rolling wave, of her powers moving through her._

_"I died," she said. "When I was in the hospital. When I had my fever. I died. I was supposed to die."_

_Young Cadence nodded._

_"But it was the meta powers that kept me alive."_

_Young Cadence nodded again._

_"What's most important to you?"_

_Young Cadence tilted her head and looked at Cadence earnestly. A smile came to her face, dimples appearing her cheeks, her lips pulled back to show her winning smile that was plastered all over her parents' house with the photos they put up. She excitedly reached out and grasped Cadence's hands, practically bouncing on her feet with that unbridled energy she'd channeled into cheerleading and gymnastics at a young age._

_"Making sure people I love are safe," Cadence said. Young Cadence nodded and continued bouncing. "I'd do anything to make sure they're safe. Even without my powers."_

_"And it's because of that, that you've been entrusted within the Fire Fall. Those that can't be trusted…Hell Fire. There have been many moments where you could've gone that way, but your brightness continues to shine, your passion continues to burn. The Fire Fall embraces you."_

_Young Cadence giggled as she stopped bouncing. She squeezed Cadence's hand once more and backed away, clasping her hands behind her. She twisted back and forth before waving to Cadence, disappearing in a rush of flame._

_"You're on the verge of good things, Firestarter. Don't let the power sway you."_

_Craa-ack!_

_The stained glass beneath Cadence's feet shattered and she fell through the darkness once more. This time, instead of being confused, concerned, she felt more powerful than ever. The darkness continued to swirl around her, until she couldn't tell which way was up. Her lids fell heavier and heavier until her eyes were closed._

Cadence was sure, if she were to go to the Fire Fall again, she'd either see Burnout there, standing along her younger self, if not finding that Burnout had gone to Hell Fire. Nevertheless, it gave her a solution to the biggest question she'd been asking herself for months. She stopped walking, almost yanking Caitlin to the ground as she did so.

"What?" Caitlin asked. She eyed Cadence nervously, noticing the sudden and serious expression that came to the firestarter's face. "What's wrong?"

"I need a test," Cadence murmured. Before Caitlin could protest, she teleported the two to STAR Labs. Cadence moved into the Medical Bay and started to pull at the machines that lined the sides of the examining table inside. Moved them close, started to pull at the electrodes. "We have to a run a test."

"What kind of test?" Caitlin asked. Her eyes widened, continually watching Cadence when she pulled off her blouse and started to apply electrodes to her shoulders, back, and her temples. "Cade, what's wrong?"

"Any test," Cadence replied. "I need a full scan."

"To find what?"

"Anything to prove…" Cadence took a breath. Spoke her worries out loud for the first time since the night she was supposed to have been murdered. "Anything to prove that Burnout is inside me."

"Burnout died," Caitlin reminded her.

Cadence shook her head, continued moving, almost on auto-pilot. "I mind-melded with her right before she died. Something happened. I think, sort of, she's inside of me. Or she's become me…"

"And that's what caused your burst of power," Caitlin agreed, suddenly catching on. "That's what made you reach the Fire Fall." She stepped up to Cadence's side and firmly pressed on her shoulder, pushing her back to the examining table, putting all the electrodes in their correct places to accurately get a reading from their equipment. She swept a tablet off the table and brought it up into her hands, fingers flying over the face of it. "We'll have to check this out, see what the prolonged effects of the mind-meld have done to your powers."

"To everything else," Cadence agreed. Her eyebrows furrowed as she laid back, wincing the second her back pressed against the cold material beneath her. There was always an abundance of blankets to be used in the Medical Bay, they always had to keep the instruments cool. Either that, or she'd become so used to not having Caitlin around that the frosty metahumans' presence chilled her to the bone. "I think Burnout's personality has become part of mine."

Caitlin nodded. "Like withy our intense training schedules and how ruthless you've been."

Cadence shot her a questioning glance. How could she have possible known that? Especially when it was her first time back in STAR Labs in however long? Then she saw the quick glance Caitlin shot her way and nodded silently, immediately understanding with the meaningful message behind it. Unspoken. Cisco had been keeping in touch with Caitlin longer than any of them had known.

"Well, whatever it is, we'll figure things out," Caitlin said. "Now, I just need you to sit back and relax or else I'm not going to get a good reading on this."

Cadence allowed a grin. "Don't want me to get too excited?" Caitlin laughed quietly. Cadence watched her friend. The part of her, the real part of her, that had waited a long time to get past her guilty of having potentially harmed her best friend when forcing her to take the cure. "It's good to have you back, Dr. Snow."

"It's good to be back, Dr. Nash," Caitlin replied.

* * *

Barry shook his head, holding onto the case file that was Ralph Dibny's. His upper lip curled at the mere sight of the man's name, unable to keep the burning tension that continued to sit through him that he thought he'd buried. That he thought he'd been able to release once Dibny had been kicked off the force, let alone of what he held for Eobard Thawne and Zoom. Coming back from the Speed Force, seeing everything that'd happened in his life—or was supposed to happen—had left him brimming with peace.

And, once again, DIbny had managed to ruin that. Now he had to go see a man he thought he'd never see again, never _wanted _to see again, and figure out whether or not he was a metahuman. Let alone someone who was trying to target him. The people exposed to the dark matter on the bus and whomever had created the Samuroids, were connected. It was just worth figuring out _how_.

_But can you face him without letting it get to you? _Barry thought. He leaned back on the couch, tossing the file away. Turned it so that he didn't have to see the name. Didn't have to torture himself. He brought his hand up to cover his mouth, knee bouncing in a rhythmic tapping as he worked to figure out how to move forward. Barry took a deep breath, closing his eyes, trying to calm himself.

"Or, you can roll over and take it," Savitar commented, voice wafting through his head.

"Shut up," Barry muttered.

"I didn't say anything." Barry opened his eyes to find Brady looking at him like he were crazy as he moved to the kitchen. Cadence dropped onto the couch next to him, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't you have a job to do?"

Barry sighed, not quite in the mood to take any jabs from Brady that day. "I'm working," he replied. He shifted his gaze to Cadence. "I found someone who might be able to help us figure out who's been sending the Samuroid after me." Cadence's eyebrows rose. "Does Ralph Dibny sound familiar to you?"

"No." Cadence shook her head. "Should it?"

So that was something that wasn't changed from Flashpoint. Ralph Dibny was still an asshole and was still someone that rightfully deserved to be taken down from the pedestal he liked to think he should've been on the top of. "I'll explain later, but if he has something to do with the bus metas, then it's not going to be good."

"So…" Brady reached into the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. He pointed it to Barry. "We get benched and now there's someone you _don't _like that you want to work with?" His face screwed up in an expression of offense. "What's up with that?"

"Brady, it wasn't just his decision to bench you guys," Cadence said.

"He was the one who brought it up," Brady reminded her, frowning. "You would've said it anyway, because you're my mom and you care about me. But you're my mom, you kind of have to." Barry felt himself bristle, understanding the implication.

"Brady, we need you to stay out of the field so that we don't put you and Leah in any unnecessary danger," Barry explained. "Especially when we don't know what it is that's coming after us."

"Coming after you, you mean. No one ever targets me or mom, it's always you that's the problem."

"We're a team. It's going to be _our _problem. And we're going to bench you." Barry looked to Cadence, who lifted a hand and shrugged slightly. Right. He was supposed to be handling the discipline himself. If things were going to get any better between them… "If something happens—"

"Whatever." Brady sapped his water bottle in his hand and started to leave the kitchen. "I'm going to my room."

Barry pressed his lips firmly together. "I'm not done talking. I just want you to understand—"

"I'm done listening."

"Brady," Cadence started, unfurling her legs to get up from the couch. Barry held up a hand, signaling to her that he wasn't going to back down. She leaned back into the couch, watching closely. Barry waved a hand, letting Brady go. Not that it mattered too much, Brady didn't even pause in his stride at Barry's words.

Barry thought for a moment, then superspeeded out of the room, passing Brady as he went, returning seconds later. Cadence's eyebrows furrowed together when he returned to the couch, wind blowing her hair around her. Barry calmly sat back on the couch, stretching his arm across the back of it to rest over her shoulders.

"What'd you do?" She asked.

"You'll see," Barry replied. He squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, taking in the heat that burned beneath his hand. He frowned, thinking of what she'd told him earlier that day. After she and Caitlin had finished running their tests. Of how, she wasn't the same person he'd fallen in love with. Not really. But all the same, he wasn't the same person she'd fallen in love with either. There was apart of him that was Barry Allen from Earth-1, Barry Allen from Earth-2, and a part of him that had turned to the darkness once Eobard Thawne and Zoom had managed to destroy him emotionally for so long.

A real match made in heaven, if it were. Who else would be able to handle their lives and move forward, continuing to grow stronger as the days went on?. Sure…there was the tiny problem of their communication, both being headstrong and acting on emotion before all rational thought. But there were always the notion of somehow, someway, coming back to each other, all of them, as a team, that kept them going.

Hopefully, this would be something they could work through now that they knew everything. No more secrets stretched between them. They could start over, on a clean slate, as the team they were always meant to be. As partners.

Barry could handle metahumans with every reason in the world to try and kill him, but working to deal with his own personal problems were difficult for him. As it was, he steeled himself, waiting for the explosion that was bound to come.

It finally came when, only seconds later, there was a loud slamming sound—of which was probably Brady slamming open the door to his room.

Then, a beat of silence, abruptly followed by Brady's scream of, "Mom!" at the top of his lungs. It took only a few seconds for his rapid footsteps to reach the living room where he stood over the couch, pressing his hands to the arm of the couch by his mother's head and glared toward Brady. Cadence's head jerked to the side as her son continued to yell, mouth inches from his ear. "Mom, there's nothing in my room!"

She brought up a hand to protect her eardrum from the onslaught of his yelling. "What are you talking about? What do you mean there's nothing in your room?" Then she clocked on and looked to Barry, who continued to sit quietly. "You took everything out of his room?"

"Yes," Barry replied.

"Put it back!" Brady demanded.

"No." Brady's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in abject indignation. He parted his lips, ready to screech out another protest, only stopping when Barry leaned forward, clasping his hands together between his knees and said, "I'm not putting anything back in your room because I worked hard for what you have." He pointed just above Brady's shoulders then to Cadence. "Everything you have in your room is something that your mom has worked hard to give you, or that I've worked hard to give you. Not just with the CCPD, but as the Flash and Flare. If you think I don't, if you really don't see it…" Barry shrugged. He worked to keep his voice steady, staved off the shaking that threatened to come to his voice, filling his entire body, starting with his hands. "You say I don't do anything for you, so I took back everything I gave you."

Brady spluttered, working to find the words he could sew back to him. But Barry continued to sit back and watch as Brady's anger slowly but surely faded from him, though the fire stayed ignited in his eyes. Barry's heart ran at a mile a minute. He'd faced metahumans, people who had him look in the face of death, had his sanity questioned and teased and played with. But nothing hurt him more than seeing the anger and frustration in Brady's face with his actions of the past few minutes.

"Brady," Barry continued. "I get you're mad at me-"

"No, you don't," Brady interrupted. "You don't get it!" He paused once before throwing his hands into the air, letting it out. "You _left_! You just left me and my mom standing there, not knowing what was going to happen!"

"I had to," Barry insisted.

"You broke your promise!"

"I know!" Barry's voice cracked. Tears pricked at his eyes, an overwhelming amount of emotion filling him that he didn't think was still possible. "I know I broke my promise. But I was thinking about it, about you, when I saw what was happening with the Speed Force. And you don't think it hurt to have to leave like that? Everything was finally going right, and, suddenly, I have to leave again? Right after promising you that I was always going to be there for you and your mom?" He took in another deep breath, tried to steady himself. "I had to go to make protect you. All of you. That was me keeping my promise."

Brady shook his head. "I was there for everything! I had to stand in for everything that had to do with your wedding. I helped mom call everyone who was invited to say the wedding was postponed. I watched her cry night after night when people would say to my mom's face that they knew she wasn't going to amount to much. That they didn't think the wedding was going to happen anyway." Cadence hummed quietly, turning her head away to rub at her temples. "I went to help her choose colors and decorations and what knives to use to cut a cake! Who cares about stupid knives?! It's a cake! We're all going to eat it anyway!" He violently gestured toward Barry. "_You _should care about knives, not me! But you weren't there! You promised me, you _told me _you weren't going to hurt us. And then you left and I had to pick up mom's pieces for the six months you were gone! I had to be the man of the house! I'm not a man, I'm eleven!"

Barry stood, wrapping his arms around Brady as tightly as he would've hugged Joe when he was younger. As tightly s he would've hugged Joe then, begrudgingly telling the older man that he was right, that kids were harder than they looked to handle. But grateful for the experience all the same. As tightly as he would've hugged his mother and father had he had the chance to see them again. Brady didn't hesitate, didn't fight back, simply threw up his arms and wrapped them around Barry, pressing his face into Barry's chest, trying to stifle his sobs.

Barry sighed, continuing to rub his back.

Finally, _finally_, he did something right.

* * *

**A/N:** So, first Cade is going after people that hurt Frankie and now…she's working for the Network? No, she's not working for the Network, but, boy oh boy I can't wait to reveal this plot point to you all. Like, you have no idea. I'm literally shaking with excitement. But I think this was a nice chapter for Cadence and Caitlin and it gives an idea as to why _Caitlin _hadn't gone back to STAR Labs for so long.

Super sorry for the wait on an update, but I'm glad you guys are still sticking with me!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	19. Ralph Dibny, I Think

**18**

_Ralph Dibny, I Think_

* * *

Brady stuck his head out the door to the apartment, looked both ways, then stepped outside fully. He looked over his shoulder as Connor strode out after him. "Nobody's here," he remarked. He shifted his backpack up his shoulder. "I seriously doubt Oliver is going to be staling you on your way to school."

"He's the Green Arrow, he can do anything he wants," Connor reminded him dryly. He ran a hand over his face, yawning quietly, making Bray watch him closely. "He's probably got cameras all around this city _and _his own."

"That's…" Brady trailed off, pulling the door shut behind him. "Not quite _untrue_…" he trailed off, calling bye back to his mother before closing the door all the way. "Okay, I don't think he'd have them in the apartment, though. Privacy laws and all that, mom went over it with me when she was studying to join the CCPD. She says if someone's filming and they don't have your permission…something about being a two-party state. I don't know."

"You mean like those guys that were watching us on the way to school that day?"

"Thanks…I almost forgot about that." The two went to the elevator of the apartment complex and rode down to the lobby, where they waved to eth receptionist, and started their trek to school. "And about that creepy doctor's office that I haven't been back to since."

Connor huffed a breath through his nose. "I'm sure Oliver could handle that too," he said sarcastically. "Has some sort of cameras all around that place. You know, unless your mom scares him off against for me."

"She can be pretty scary sometimes."

"But to scare _my _dad?"

"At least you're calling him your dad now," Brady pointed out. Connor shrugged and yawned again. Brady watched his best friend closely, noticing that the dark bags under his eyes that seemed to get darker and heavier as the days passed. "That's a good sign, right?"

"I guess." Brady frowned, twisting his mouth to the side. Connor lifted his gaze toward the sky, taking a moment to bite his tongue before saying, "Not everyone's relationship is like yours, okay? You and Barry can work through things because Barry actually wants to work through things, Oliver doesn't care about anyone but himself. If he did, he would've cared at least helped me and my…" he blinked hard. "Would've helped me and my mom when I was growing up."

Brady snorted. "Like Ryder did any of that. I didn't know who he was until a few years ago. You didn't know Oliver was your dad, either."

"He's got Felicity and Diggle to help him out, a full team of people, I'm sure he had an idea of finding out who I am if he wanted." Connor shook his head. "Not that it matters now, I don't even know if I want him around? He's lied so much, he's…he's not a good man."

"Because he killed some people? You know my mom did the same thing, they're both doing what they think is right to be heroes."

"Whatever. I don't want to talk about it anymore." Connor folded his arms tightly over his chest, looked at his watch. "We still have time before school starts. Did you still want to stop by…"

"Yeah, it's just this way." Brady took a right turn instead of a left at the intersection that led them in the direction of school and walked in the opposite direction. "Think Leah will be mad that we went without her?"

"I don't know." Connor shrugged again. This time seeming even more annoyed than he had moments before. "She's been really moody lately. I don't get it."

"She's probably just mad that she's been benched like the rest of us," Brady reasoned. He still couldn't quite get over the outrage he felt over it. Of knowing that every time something happened in Central City, he wasn't going to get much experience in helping. All that training wasted, he supposed.

The six months that Barry had been gone was good for him in the sense of the training he received. He was able to phase people and things with ease, could turn invisible at the drop of a hat if needed, and he made good use of it when wanting to play some pranks or having some fun. And he was in good control of the shadow balls and form so energy he could make, often using them in pairing with all the gadgets that Cisco had made him. Sure, there was the one incident where he seriously strained the muscles in his back from the repeated throwing of his frisbee/shield, but that wasn't anything to worry too much about.

His mother had immediately gone and healed it for him, and he was careful in his throwing technique to not do it again. But he had the skill and the no how that no one would see. And he was sure people would realize there was a lack of Shadowhunter out in the field, especially if there were going to be more sightings of the Samuroids. And…there was that video clip of him beating Barry in the face with his war hammer when he was going out of control that was making the rounds of the internet.

Brady grinned to himself as he went along. Tried to wipe it off his face, knowing Barry wouldn't find it to be as funny as he did. And, well, while he finally got that apology from the speedster he was waiting for, it wasn't like things were going to completely go back to normal so soon. But that didn't mean he couldn't help when he could, they were dispatched more and more as the days went on.

And now…

"You're not being completely benched," Connor reminded him. He pulled out his phone and started to swipe through different screens so quickly Brady couldn't keep up. "Your mom said so herself, you're going to alter your training, maybe more target practice. If something big comes up, you'll be back out there. And, besides, it's probably not a good idea for you to be going after these Samuroids anyway."

"Why?"

"They're four bars." Connor turned his phone around to show him the level of measurements they had for all for the people and enemies they'd come across. "Maybe even a five bar considering the sort of armor they're made of."

"So?"

"You're a three bar, dude." Connor reached out and placed his hand on Brady's shoulder, squeezing it. "And, I don't know about you, but life would be really boring without you around." He smiled. "I wouldn't have anyone else to annoy."

"Ha ha."

Brady pushed Connor's hand off his shoulder and waved them into a nearby apartment building. One of the ones that seemed inconspicuous, a bit rundown, which would make those looking for their first place wary of putting down a deposit, but newer enough for those that had been in the rental game to know it was a place that would have a better cost of living. And, the most important part, no one would look for them there.

Perfect.

Brady grasped Connor's shoulder phased them up through the floor. No worries of any cameras or people around to see him exhibiting his powers. They slid up through the floor of an apartment, crying out in surprise when a sword nearly sliced into the tips of their noses. Connor leapt behind Brady, grabbing his shoulders tightly, making the two vibrate as he shook in fear.

Black Blade, on the other hand, calmly brought the sword back down to his side. "Haven't people ever warned you about going into other people's homes without knocking?"

"Sorry." Brady bowed once, forcing Connor to bow as well. "I don't expect everyone to have swords lying around."

"Katanas," Black Blade corrected him. He walked to a holder on the wall and set it down, carefully placing it with his fingertips. "They're not just swords. They're ancient pieces of art."

Brady shrugged. "However you slice it, it's a sword."

Black Blade smiled. "What brought you over here today?" He gestured for them to sit in any of the low sitting futons and cushions that lined the living room. "Shouldn't you be in school? You academics are important." He then picked up a tea kettle that sat on the edge of the table and offered it to the boys.

"We came to see how you were doing." Brady waved Connor off once more and stepped toward Black Blade, lifting his hand to turn down the cup of tea that'd been offered to him. "We have some time before school and I don't think being a little late would be too bad."

"For _your _track record?" Connor snorted. "Maybe not." He then looked at Black Blade. "That guy, Abra Kadabara—"

"—Abra Kadabra?" Black Blade repeated.

"That's what Cisco named him," Connor explained. "Do you know him? Did he come from your Earth?" Brady waited with bated breath at the response. "It seemed that he really wanted to get you out of the way."

Black Blade lowered his cup of tea, his upper lip curling into a small smile. "I'd figured, by now, that you all would've been used to having people come out of the woodwork to attack you for no reason." Black Blade thought for a moment. "He said he wanted to waste some time while waiting for the Flash. But it seemed pretty symbolic to me."

"Why?' Brady frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The samurai vs. the ninja?" Black Blade replied. "Though I would never consider myself to be of the latter category. But whomever sent out the Samuroid to go after the Flash…if it was a set up…then they've got an idea of the kind of people you've surrounded yourselves with."

Brady chewed his lower lip. He looked to Connor, who looked back at him. "Then they've been watching us," he realized. "Just like Barry said."

"Maybe they know we're here, too," Connor agreed. He took in a deep breath, running his hands through his hair. His gaze shifted for a moment and he looked to Black Blade. Paused. "Do you know anything about the sort of metal that the Samuroid was made out of?"

Black Blade shook his head, his blue eyes flashing in light irritation. Nothing that he would've otherwise outwardly shown. He was much too careful to let any of his emotions show in regards of those he kept around him. In case of an enemy that was coming too close for comfort. But Brady had seen a strange sense of satisfaction in Black Blade's eyes just before their fight started, the same sort of satisfaction he saw in Abra Kadabra's when he said those things about his future.

But he trusted Black Blade more than a man who seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere to wreak havoc. For his own personal gain.

"All Ii know is that it was stronger than any of the metals I've ever come up against before," Black Blade agreed. "Even from my own Earth. Whatever this is…it's something that's just started here. I haven't found a counterpart anywhere in Earth-2. Then again, I never had the opportunity to get a sample of the metals. Not even through any shavings that may have been left on my katanas." He paused. "Almost as if…" his voice trailed off.

"Almost as if it were planned?" Brady asked. He nodded when Black Blade's eyes shifted toward him. "That's what we were thinking too." He looked at his watch. "We should get to school. I can be late, but not that late. Thanks Black Blade." He waved.

Black Blade smiled, leading the to the door. "I told you, you can call me Ryuto."

* * *

Barry stepped out of the way before he could get slammed into by a very angry looking woman as she stalked away from Ralph Dibny's office door. He flattened himself against the wall and exchanged a low with Joe, uttering a low, "Uh," as she went.

Joe looked back at him in amusement. "This is definitely his place."

"Things never change, huh?' Barry replied, watching as the woman violently pulled at the door at the end of the hallway that led to the staircase. After a few seconds, she realized she needed to pull and equally violently—with a push of her foot—knocked the door open, where it swung shut with a loud _wham_. "I'd hate to see what he did to piss her off.

"I don't know, maybe you should be asking what pissed _these _guys off."

At Joe's tone, he turned to see her pointing to the window that led to Dibny's office. Where the words _Ralph Dibny Private Investigator _had been scratched out to read _Ralph Dibny Private Dick. _Barry rolled his eyes, pushed himself off the wall, and motioned for Joe to open the door. "Knowing Ralph, it could be his very existence."

"Geez, Bare, I can't wait to see what happens when you actually dislike someone." Joe knocked on the door to the office before pushing it open. Ralph looked up from the mirror he held in his left hand, massaging his cheek with his right.

Barry took the chance, walking in behind Joe, to look around Ralph's office. His upper lip curled in disgust, seeing the stacks of to go boxes and take out bags stacked among the disarray of his cases and IOUs. _At least we know we're in the right place, _Barry thought, closing the door behind them. He hated how he still knew Ralph well enough to know his presence through a few simple odds and ends.

And hated even more that, if their suspicions were correct, Ralph was one of the few leads they had to figure out who wanted to take him down and who orchestrated him coming out of the Speed Force in the first place.

"Ralph," Joe greeted him.

"Joe West," Ralph responded with a warm smile. Or what was close to one, Barry noted. He couldn't remember the last tie that he'd seen Ralph Dibny, at least not within the last five years, and could only imagine that the memories they'd share weren't too happy. At least, not when Joe wasn't the one who had effectively 'destroyed his life'. He'd only been standing by the sidelines when Ralph was asked to leave the police force. Something that Barry knew Ralph was thinking about when their eyes met. When Ralph, finally, got a good look at Barry, slowly standing as he slid his hands into the pockets of his lacks. "Barry Allen. Been a long time, Rookie."

Barry felt himself grit his teeth. He hated himself for reacting that way, knowing how long it'd been and how quickly he responded to the taunting name. He had a few choice words to say to Ralph, but kept it with a simple "Well, I'm not a rookie anymore, Dibny." Barry glanced at the box of doughnuts on Ralph's desk, remembering the pile of boxes and bags that lined the floor behind him. "You look healthy." He couldn't keep the sound of sarcasm from seeping into his tone. Bitter sarcasm.

But Ralph took it in stride, reaching out to lovingly run his hands around the belly that strained beneath his button down blouse that, upon further inspection, Barry saw was dotted with tiny bits of frosting and sprinkles. "Yeah, I got the spare tire out the trunk," Dibny said. "I suppose it happens." He made a show of looking Barry up and down, the side of his mouth turning up. "It may even happen to you, too, Slim Jim."

The corner of Barry's mouth turned up in a snarl.

"So what brings you to Casa de Dibny?" He dropped back into his seat, stretching out his legs to rest on the desk, crossing his legs at the ankle. "Not that I ever expected to see you, but you know what they saw about time passing by. It heals all wounds." Then his face screwed up and he reached down to scratch at his ankle, pushing a crew sock aside to reveal a red, wet, welt. "Except for this rash, I keep putting ointment on it but nothing seems to work."

Joe stepped forward, shooting Barry a warning look when Barry opened his mouth to make a biting remark. Instead, Joe motioned toward him and asked, "Were you on the 405 Bus a few week ago around noon?"

'That's very specific." Ralph continued to scratch at his ankle, then put his hand up to his mouth, cleaning out the skin that gathered beneath his nails. "Who wants to know? Why? Did someone say something?" He eyed Barry and Joe suspiciously, still gnawing at his finger nail.

Barry pressed his lips together, working to calm himself down before he could let his frustration show. Savitar's presence must've been working on him a lot more than he originally thought. "We found your IOU along the deceased bus driver's personal affects. And, what a coincidence when we found you were somehow linked to him when we were looking at another case."

"Deceased?" Ralph's eyes lit up and he dropped his hands form his mouth. He grinned, pointing a finger gun toward Barry and Joe. "'Hey! That's one less "U" I owe." Then his eyes narrowed, shifting back and forth over his former co-workers. "Another case, you say? What it to you? What do you need me for?"

"It's as simple question," Barry said, unable to hold his exasperation much longer. "Why don't you just answer it?"

Ralph looked hard at him. "You walk into my office after five years, like nothing has happened and you're asking me for a favor?" He twisted his nose back and forth. "I smell a mystery."

"It's not a favor, its information."

"And how much is this information worth?"

"Unbelievable," Barry murmured under his breath, turning away from Ralph. He let out a huff, bringing up his hands to rest on his forehead. He worked hard to keep his frustration toward Ralph at bay. It surged through his chest, swelling even more as the seconds passed. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the tiny mirror Ralph kept hanging by the front door. Lightning flashed through his eyes.

"Are you shaking us down?" Joe asked, disbelief written all in his voice.

"I know something you don't," Ralph pointed out. "And you need to know it badly, otherwise you'd never swallow your pride and face me." His voice then turned dark, low, menacing. "After what you did."

At that, Barry whipped around. "After what _I_ did?" He demanded, voice practically echoing through the office with his shout. "After what _I _did? I hadn't done anything that others wouldn't have done to you. You—"

Joe held out his arm, stopping Barry in his tracks. "Ralph, the people on that bus were exposed to a dangerous substance. And we're trying to figure out everyone who was on that bus so we can warn them and get them the help they need."

"Dangerous?" Ralph repeated. The façade slowly broke and he stared at Joe and Barry in trepidation. "…Dangerous like what? Like Ebola?"

"Were you on the bus?" Barry snapped.

"No!" Ralph snapped back.

"Okay, that's all we needed. Let's go." Barry didn't need to be in Ralph's presence for another minute, not when he was going to continue to be as obnoxious as he was before. He stalked out of the office, clenching his hands into fists, lightning crackling at his fingertips.

Joe slowly closed the door behind them, shaking his head. "That guy hasn't changed a bit," he murmured.

'You really expect him to?" Barry demanded. "Guys like that don't change. They only care about themselves and how they're going to step on other people to get to the top. We already knew that, what made you think that he would've changed."

"It's been five years, Bare?"

"So?"

"So, in those same five years, I've seen you change, too."

"What?" Barry whirled around to face Joe, face screwing up. "What od you mean? I haven't changed." Joe lifted an eyebrow and nodded toward the lightning that continued to crackle around Barry's hands. Barry noticed and stuff his hands into the pockets of his jeans, willing the crackling to stop. "Okay, but that's different. I just got new superpowers. I haven't changed as a person, I haven't needed to. I'm not a dirty cop."

"Maybe not but…" Joe hesitated. "I've only ever seen you get that mad a few times before. And that was with the Reverse-Flash and Zoom." He let the words sink in as Barry stared back at him. "And considering Dibny doesn't have any powers…I'd hate to see what would happen if the two of you actually got to talking to each other."

Barry opened his mouth to protest—the Reverse-Flash and Zoom were different, they'd murdered his parents—but he cut himself off when his and Joe's phones both started to go off.

An alert from STAR Labs was something they couldn't ignore.

* * *

_Alarms blared over STAR Labs, taking their attention within seconds. Cisco pulled off his Vibe glasses and raced around the side of the computer panel. He gaped at the screen in front of him, fingers racing along the keyboard that sat in front of him, working to change the image in front of him. Hoping against hope that it wasn't true._

_"Sally's in a decaying orbit," Cisco said, bringing his hands up to rub his hair back from his face. He looked to his friends, his team, and gently shook his head. "If we don't do something soon, then…well…this is the first time that I've worried about anything actually happening to us."_

_"What does that mean?" Brady asked, eyebrows coming together. He brought out his hands when all eyes turned to him. "I get it, we're going to be flattened into a pancake, I just mean what does DeVoe have anything to do with this?"_

_"He had this as a fool proof plan," Cisco explained quickly. "If something ever happened, that he wouldn't be able to come back from, he put the failsafe into Sally. It's going to fall and the impact of something that heavy and that fast…"_

_"Pancakes," Leah agreed._

_Cisco laughed under his breath. Cadence made a humming sound and pressed her lips together. She watched the screen, taking in the projected path of the orbit. Reaching up, she ran her hands through her hair before cracking her knuckles. "How much time do we have?"_

_"Three minutes if we're lucky," Cisco predicted._

_"Okay!" Ralph lifted a hand in the air. He motioned toward the Medical Bay. "We've got a baby being born in the middle of the worst disaster the city has seen. The Thinker has, pretty much, taken over my mind and as far as we know, may still be up there. All of that I can deal with. But how are we going to stop something that could send us back into the Stone Age?"_

_"Together," Cadence replied. "The only way we can do this is together." She Iris, you get the word out to evacuate downtown." Iris nodded and quickly whipped out her phone to do as she was told. "Ralph, Cisco, you, Brady, and Leah clear the impact zone." She then looked to her husband. "We have to destroy the satellite."_

_With that, Team Flash spread out to do as they were told. Downtown Central City was in disarray as chunks of burning metal rained from the sky. Citizens screamed as they ran to get out of the way of the falling debris. They ducked behind cars, crashed into each other, and flung each other out the way as they tried to get to safety._

_A young couple cowering in the back of a taxi screamed in terror as the debris fell around them. The driver high-tailed it out the front seat, abandoning the couple as he did so. A piece of debris, the size of a large boulder, fell toward the taxi. At the last second, Barry raced into the car, grabbed the couple, and ran them out of the taxi and into safety._

_Cisco opened a breach into the middle of the fray. He paused for a moment, assessing the carnage, then thrust out his fist. A breach opened in front of a young mother and her daughter, keeping a large chunk of satellite from hitting them as it fell into the breach. He punched just behind him where another beach opened and the satellite grounded itself into the ground._

_Ralph ran up behind a group of three men that watched a chunk of debris fell their way. Frozen in fear. "Come on man, move," Ralph murmured. He shook his head, seeing they weren't about to move, then threw out his arm. His arm stretched into the shape of a lasso around the men, grouped them together, and yanked the three back out of the way._

_Brady and Leah stood back to back as they took on the smaller chunks of debris, using their shadow and light powers to slice through the pieces of metal that then crashed to the ground around them. Cadence teleported in front of two screaming kids, wrapped her arms around them, then teleported away. She teleported back and flung out her arms, bracing herself against the ground. She reached up toward the falling piece of satellite, caught it against her chest, and threw it aside. She winced as the metal scraped against the ground, creating a loud screeching sound._

_Barry skidded to a stop behind her, looking at the largest piece of satellite that fell towards them. The largest part that arched toward them, growing in size the closer it came to the city. A piece of satellite that was simply too big for any of them to catch or breach away. They were going to have to do something different. Maybe the only thing that could be done._

_Taking in a deep breath, Barry looked toward Cadence and nodded once. Cadence nodded back and the two moved at the same time. Barry shifted his feet and ran as far away as he could while Cadence took off into the air, fire jet propulsing from her feet, fire covering her body as she arched through the sky._

_He ran up the side of a building, arched around, and ran back in the direction Cadence had just been. Ran, ran, ran, until a sonic boom burst behind him, spurring him even further. Above him, he could see Cadence streak through the sky, and raced up to the building just as she caught it. He stretched out a hand and punched the side of the satellite at the same time that Cadence stopped pushing it and sent a large blast of fire toward it._

_The satellite imploded in pieces, the force of the blow knocking Barry and Cadence away from it with so much speed that the friction-proof material in thier suits cound't hold up. Flames erupted around their bodies as they fell._

_Cadence screamed as she was driven into the ground by the force of the blow, her scream abruptly ending when a piece of metal landed atop of her with a sickening thud. Barry arched through the air and crashed into windows of an office building. The glass he broke through ripped through his suit, slicing his arms and legs as he tumbled feet over head, coming to a stop in the middle of an empty office, unable to move as his blood puddled around him._

_The satellite crashed into the streets of Central City, the resulting shockwave flattening everything in seconds._

"End transmission." DeVoe's lips twitched into a small smile as Marlize turned toward him, shaking her head. "I don't understand why you enjoy continuously watching this, but I have to admit that it does make things more interesting," She remarked. "Knowing there's nothing they can do to stop us…well, don't you think you'd want to speed things up a little bit."

"In concern of The Flash, you know how I hate puns," DeVoe said with a light shake of the head. "Even if they do tend to be clever. But there's more than the Enlightenment that we have to worry about," he said. "There are many ways that they could act erratically, which would make their ending different."

"But not _too _different" Marlize agreed. She walked to her husband's side, looping her arm through his. She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "You've already got it all planned out. No matter what they try to do, your ideas are going to be felt worldwide. You're going to change the world, Clifford. Just as you've always wanted."

"What more is there to life when you've achieved everything you've always wanted?" DeVoe asked. He waved his hand, brushing aside the projection in front of them. With a shaky hand, he pressed a button on the side of his levitating chair and waited for it to depower itself, slowly lowering to the floor.

When it was settled, Marlize walked over an ordinary looking wheelchair that she helped him settle into. Then, within seconds, they left their pocket dimension and returned to their house, where she walked them into the kitchen, situating him at the table. "You've always wanted to educate, and there's always something for someone to learn."

"Yes, but what if it's the things we don't _want _them to learn?" DeVoe questioned. He watched Marlize closely. "The Firestarter has already started to question her powers, just as we thought she would. Sooner than we expected, the arrival of Mr. Allen from the Speed Force had changed things a little bit more than we thought. I never anticipated Savitar to continue to plague the speedster let alone reveal the Forces Sage, Still, Strength, and Forever Force."

"And what about the Fire Fall?" Marlize asked, starting up their dinner. "What if Ms. Nash figures out her connection with it before we can prepare?"

"Oh, my dear, we're all adequately prepared. I've foreseen everything that could happen and have come up with a counter measure. Everything has been set to fall in a certain pattern, all leading up to the Enlightenment." DeVoe picked up the chopsticks that had been set aside his plate and spun it in his fingers. "But that doesn't mean that we can't have fun until then if they decide to stray away from the path a little bit. It makes things more interesting." His eyebrows twitched upwards as he smiled. "Don't you think?"

* * *

**A/N: **And now the introduction of Ralph! Now that he's arrived, a lot more things are coming up, as well as lot of new twists and turns that I hope you guys are all excited for! Especially with the way he's going to impact everyone's story moving forward. I didn't particularly like how they did things on the show, so of course, I'll be putting my own spin on things.

And, the rest of the Crisis event starts again on Tuesday! I'm so ready for it and already have my idea of what I'm going to do when that part of the story comes around! If you follow me on tumblr (purple-and-red-ribbons) then you'll have an idea of what I'm doing. If you don't, then feel free to check it out there!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Oh yeah, that 'keep your friends close' thing certainly holds true for Cade, especially with the Assassination Bureau. There's more to come with Amunet, save for her crashing Cade's bachelorette party once we get from Cade's past aren't quite done yet.

**yummers:** Glad you enjoyed that part! I hope you enjoy this as well!


	20. Mutual Suspicions

** 19**

_Mutual Suspicions_

* * *

Caitlin was more than worried when she went back to STAR Labs. Her first day back in a place that had been her whole life for years. That had been her whole life even before metahumans happened. It was where she first, truly got out from under her mother's thumb, where she was able to branch out and study things she was passionate about.

It was where she met some of her best friends; Cisco and Ronnie, and eventually Barry and Cadence. It was where she had the best mentorship she could ever possibly receive from anywhere else. Had met the best person in the industry within Harrison Wells and had her own experiments, studies, and papers go above and beyond what she thought they could because of it.

STAR Labs was her home.

But it was always hard going back home again, when there was so much that kept her away. Absence really did make the heart grow fonder, but there was nothing that could prepare her for what felt like fist day jitters.

She _had _tried to kill them all.

_That wasn't you, _Caitlin reminded herself, tipping her head back to rest against the wall of the elevator behind her. She sighed through her nose, looking at the light in the ceiling. _That was Killer Frost. _She snorted, shaking her head at her own thoughts. Her ow naïve thoughts. Not like the other part of her, who could come out at a moment's notice, was something she could pass it off on. What an excuse.

"That wasn't me, that was the evil part of me."

Caitlin lowered her chin, shook out her hands as the elevator doors opened to the main level of the laboratories they operated out of. The Cortex. She wrung her hands together, walking through to the Cortex, her heels clacking against the ground, announcing her arrival as she went. She took in a deep breath, expecting to see the entire team waiting for her, demanding answers, ready to pepper her with questions.

But she only found Cisco in his seat, leaning over his computer screen, watching…_something_. Caitlin walked up behind him, and smiled when she saw he was watching one of those documentaries about Star Trek on Netflix. It made her smile, knowing that so much time had passed and he still hadn't changed. Especially his eating habits, considering he was, at the moment, chewing away on handfuls of Peanut M&Ms.

"I thought you were into Twizzlers," Caitlin remarked, standing behind him, folding her arms over her chest. She couldn't help the fond smile that came to her lips.

"I am," Cisco mumbled, still watching the screen. "But I started to get tired of drool dropping to my shirt." He shook his head, lifting a finger in the air to wiggle it. "You can't use it as a straw." Then he blinked and turned to look at her. He leaned back in his seat and stared at her. He paused for a fraction of a second, then smiled.

Caitlin smiled back. "Hey," She greeted quietly.

"Hey," Cisco replied, just as quiet. He stood. "Hey, hi." He opened his arms and Caitlin, gratefully, stepped into them, hugging him as tightly as he hugged her. She lowered her chin, resting her forehead on his shoulder, relaxing. Felt all her worries and fears melt away as she hugged her best friend, whom she hadn't realized how much she missed while she'd been gone. It was like she was whole again, finally back with her family. "I can't believe you're here."

"I can't believe it, either," Caitlin agreed. She pulled back and looked around. "It's so weird to be back here."

"I didn't think Cade would let you back, honestly," Cisco said. He stepped back, bringing up a hand to run through his hair. That, Caitlin noticed, he'd grown out even longer since the last time she'd seen him. A month ago, by that point. It was hard to believe Barry had already been back for almost a month by that point. Central City had changed so much in that time, she was surprised to find that STAR Labs hadn't. "Not that she makes the decisions for all of us…well, she kind of does, being team lead and all."

"Don't blame her for this," Caitlin said quietly. She lowered her gaze, watching her movements as she traced circles on the edge of the table beside her. "I was the one who wanted to stay away. Because of…" she took a deep breath. "Because of Killer Frost. I don't blame her for not wanting me back in here."

"You aren't Killer Frost anymore," Cisco reminded her. He took Caitlin by the shoulders, gently shaking her. Caitlin smiled a little, forced herself to look Cisco in the eye. He looked back at her, eyebrows coming together. "Or, at least, you haven't been her…" His eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you…are you _still _her? Is she still you?"

"I don't…I'm not sure…there's a lot that's been going on, Cisco. And it's why I was so…scared to come back."

"So, why did you?"

"Because I missed you," Caitlin said honestly. "I missed all of you guys. STAR Labs is my home. I felt like I had nothing when I wasn't…using everything in my power to help the people of the city. I guess I'm hardwired that way…to feel and care about other people. Not to be so cold and unfeeling as my mom or as…" she tipped her head to the side, indicating Killer Frost. "_Her."_

"You're not _her, _Caitlin, you never have been. You've always had a home here. You just needed some time to figure things out." Cisco then held up his hands, palms out, and chuckled. "And, you know, you tried to kill all of us. I'm sure that's not easy to get over." Caitlin nodded. "But I've gotten over it." She looked at him hopefully. "I've been over it. I just wanted my best friend back. Why do you think I kept tabs on you for so long?"

"I don't know." Caitlin rolled her eyes. "To test out some sort of new technology?"

There was a brief moment of silence, which gave Cisco the time to reach up and scratch the back of his head. He flashed a sheepish smile. "Well…I _did _increase the output of the scanner that was to test for your cold signatures," he said slowly. "_And, _used some of Cade's tracking prowess to find you."

"I wasn't that hard to find." Caitlin shrugged. "I wasn't really hiding."

"Yeah, just working at a bar. A coffee shop I could see, but not a bar." Caitlin shrugged again. "It's good to have you back, Caitlin."

"It's good to be back," Caitlin replied honestly. She let out a long sigh, turning toward the Medical Bay. "I guess I better get started on catching up on everything I've missed while I've been gone. I'm sure there's a lot of things you're dying to tell me." She pulled up a chair next to Cisco's computer and sat down, crossing her legs at the ankle.

"Yes! But it shouldn't take you too long to catch up because I've come up with the best system to make sure we don't forget any of our adventures!" Cisco leaned into his computer and typed frantically before pulling up what looked like, to Caitlin, a blog site. "Welcome to the _Chronicles of Cisco_!"

"The…what?"

Cisco shrugged modestly, moving through different pages and link son the webpage. "I started up a blog that follows all of our adventures lately. Just a way to get my thoughts out of everything that's been going on." He shook his head. "I don't know if you know, but having to constantly update the Encyclopedia you made hasn't been easy."

"It's probably not the best way to keep track of things either," Caitlin agreed with a sigh. Not when it was stolen so easily. And, _especially _not when it was being shuttle around Amunet's Network. How many people did she come across every day, that came to the Saints and Sinners Bar, who probably knew everything about her, her powers, and her friends and their powers? Everyone they'd ever locked up in the Pipeline.

Who knew ho many hands the information got into? And those who may or may not have needed the information. Amunet didn't _need _it, but she was someone who worked with information and knew how to use it to her advantage. It would be impressive if it wasn't so worrying.

"But, Cisco, a blog?"

"What's wrong with it?" He curled his fist around his chin. Nodded. "I know the layout isn't so great. It's not as eye catching as I thought it would be. I mean, I'm _great _at computers, and I can make some of the best suits in the superhero game, but web design isn't great."

"No! I mean…" Caitlin gestured toward the screen. "Aren't you afraid someone may hack in…steal your information? Steal everything we've had on everyone we've encountered?" She swallowed hard. "Like the Encyclopedia I made."

"That was a freak accident," Cisco reminded her with a snort. "The only thing that Snart and Mick could do and do well. They stole a computer, not your information. And believe me when I say, nothing is going to get into this baby." He tapped the screen with his knuckle, making quiet 'tock' sounds as he did so. "There's encryptions upon encryptions that not even Bill _Gates _could get through." He chuckled. "Believe me, I would give a medal to anyone who could get in here."

Caitlin laughed to herself. She reached out and patted Cisco on the shoulder. "I really missed you, Cisco." She stood and went to the Medical Bay, pausing in the doorway for a moment, looking around everything. It wasn't as dusty and dirty as she thought it would be, unkempt and neglected since she left. _Cade must've done a good job of making sure things were kept up, _Caitlin thought, taking a few steps inside. A fond smile came to her face, remembering how, when she first started in STAR Labs, how Cadence would've worked closely with her in the Medical Bay. Where they'd slowly gotten to know each other as things started out. Before the truth of the Assassination Bureau had been revealed.

_Caitlin's lips curled up into a small smile, not one that was truly there or reached her eyes nor did Cadence think it ever would. Not for a while, anyway. It hadn't even been a year since Caitlin's fiancé was killed in the place she continued to work. It was surprising that the girl hadn't had a complete mental breakdown by that point, Cadence reasoned. Especially what with her worries over the speedy metahuman she had seen so far._

_ Almost like a mother, which was a girl's instinct almost since birth, however Cadence was attuned to know there was something else there. She'd been trained enough on it, as it was._

_"A bit of both," Caitlin replied honestly. She smiled, turning back to the fire metahuman, completely taking her eyes off the blood pressure gauge that continued to spike. "Like I had said before…I could use some more girls around here. Not that the guys are terrible, but there's only so long I can take listening to them giggle like school girls over superheroes, Lady Gaga, and whatever 'toys' Cisco can invent or get his hands on."_

_Cadence gave her a funny look that was a mixture between amusement and horror. She leaned back on the examining table and used a hand to swipe her hair from her face. "We're sure they're completely straight, right?"_

_Caitlin laughed. "Yeah, that's what they keep saying," she replied. "Though, like you, I've had my moments of doubts."_

_Nodding, Cadence smiled. She lightly kicked her legs back and forth, like a little kid waiting patiently to be seen. "So, was born and raised in Metropolis, I'm twenty-four, I'm a Sagittarius, my favorite color is red-orange, and I can shoot fire out of my hands like some sort of flamethrower." She leaned forward, giving a bright smile. "Is that all or do you need to fill out my dating profile some more?"_

_Now Caitlin laughed as she reached out and ripped the blood pressure cuff off Cadence's arm. "What would you like me to add? That your blood pressure is unusually normal, but you have an abnormal skin and body temperature as well as become lethargic in increasing exposures of sunlight? That'd be a real selling point."_

_Cadence stretched her arms over her head, a sleepy smile coming to her face as she remembered the nap she had managed to get while Caitlin had tested her reaction to increasing levels of heat. She had opened a skylight and instructed Cadence to stand under it for a few moments. It hadn't taken long for Cadence to slowly become drowsy before falling asleep. Even though Cadence could withstand heat of up to about 3000 degrees if not more—they had tested that too—it appeared that the young woman had a means to get a nap every time she wanted to go to the beach._

_"Any other interesting tidbits about you?" Caitlin joked._

Caitlin smiled, dragging her fingertips along the tray table to her left side. Clean as a whistle and as organized as ever. All the tools she'd ever need for basic examination or a full surgery were in place. Caitlin then walked over to the metal drawers that held all of her medicines and smiled, seeing it was in place as well, restocked and all in order.

_Brady really kept this up, _She thought. She smiled wider, remembering how he had been punished into helping Caitlin in the Medical Bay, after…what was it…skipping school too many times? Lying about something? She really enjoyed the help. Brady had been attentive and asked as many questions as he could throughout the process. He whined and moaned and complained at first, but then grew to be able to fix things up for her quickly, almost as her own RN.

It was strange being back, she'd have to get back into the swing of things that was the craziness of Central City now that Barry…the Flash…was back. But it was a welcome change. _I hope everyone else can accept me, too. _How hard was it for people to get over someone trying to kill them?

Barry had managed to do it, but Cadence had been brainwashed at the time.

Caitlin wasn't brainwashed, it was another part of her. A part of her that may as well be the true part. Because, if everyone else had powers that made them do weird things, why was it only her that had the powers that made her evil?

Her head whipped up as a familiar sound shot through the Cortex. Similar, but different. The familiar warning of something or someone coming into STAR Labs. (Guess they'd upgraded that as well, she couldn't help but notice that the holes in the roof had been reduced, repaired).

Cisco appeared at the doorway to the Medical Bay within seconds, breathing heavily form his short run across the floor. He grasped the doorway with his hands, looking at Caitlin with wild eyes as he gasped, "We've got someone coming through a breach!"

Caitlin got to her feet and followed Cisco down to the basement of STAR Labs. She skidded to a stop, seeing the blue swirling vortex in front of her. It bathed her in a glowing blue light. The same light that bathed her when she and Killer Frost were in the recesses of her mind, working to keep control over Caitlin's body. Before Cadence had stabbed her with the 'cure' that Julian had created.

_Some cure. _Caitlin grasped the BOOT that Cisco handed her, and charged it up, waiting for whomever or whatever was about to come through the breach. She pressed her finger to the trigger, hardly noticing when Wally, Barry, and Joe had arrived. Her fingers twitched on the trigger, waiting.

Finally, two figures jumped through the vortex, landing in a low crouch before straightening to greet the team.

Harry and Jesse Wells.

* * *

Iris flipped through the newspaper, feeling a trill of excitement roll through her stomach when she saw her name on the byline of an article. It always excited her, no matter how much more common it was becoming. Not to mention the blog she was still writing for. But that was anonymous, the only thing she could do to help the citizens of Central City as they worked through the rising tensions of the metahumans in the city.

The arrival of Lex Luthor made it harder for anyone to leave their houses without having to hear about it. He did the media circuit; all the TV appearances, the quotes in the newspaper, went to the office of the Mayor and the others that were high officials within the city. And it wasn't helping. Iris heard her co-workers as they worked on those stores. Listened as they argued over metahuman rights, human rights, and, most importantly, whether they were good people for their decisions.

"We're just trying to protect the city," some said.

"From ourselves?" Others replied. "If we execute all the metahumans, run them out, what does it mean for us to move forward?"

It was her boss that'd asked. He was a fair and partial man, the one who made sure that any and all articles that ran through the newspaper and their online medias worked to show both sides of the equation. That the articles didn't lean too far one way or the other. He didn't let any of his personal views cloud anything, and made sure anyone who was to start at the Central City Picture News was the same way.

It was getting harder and harder for Iris to continue that practice as she went on in the newspaper. She could hardly stand listening to her co-workers who were clearly anti meta speak so candidly about their thoughts on the matter. Could hardly sit back and hold her tongue when she tried to speak on the other side of metahumans, explaining how they weren't less than, and be shut down by those who didn't care. It was even harder to have to listen to those people while she interviewed them, listened to all the hate they spewed.

Nevertheless, she was going to do anything she could to make sure there were people out there who were hearing the truth. Even if part of that truth was going to hit closer to home than any of them anticipated. But it was the life she lead as a journalist, one that she put her mind, body, and soul into. It was bound to mix up with the goings on in STAR Labs at some point. He'd just hoped it wouldn't have been as hard.

The bell above Jitters jangled and she looked up to see Ryder holding the door open so that Cadence could enter before her. Iris lifted a hand in a wave and the two headed over. She caught a whiff of smoke as they sat down, sure that Cadence had teleported them there to get there sooner.

"Hey," Iris greeted them. "Thanks for meeting me." She gestured with her own cup of Flash. "Do you want some coffee? My treat."

"I've got a lot of sawing I need to do today, not a good idea with shaking hands," Ryder replied. He ran a hand through his hair. "Plus, I'm already nervous as it is." Cadence simply shook her head. She, Iris knew, didn't drink coffee. As Cadence explained it, she had too much energy as it was. Which could've been the truth, Iris didn't know anyone else who could wake up early, get her kid on the school bus, go teach an aerobic class, pull a full day at work, then exhaust herself taking on as many criminals, crooks, and metahumans as the city pushed forward in the day.

At least, she didn't know anyone who did it without keeling over from exhaustion. Even Barry had taken on a cup a day habit around the time the Zoom had been invented. A drink named after a villain was one of the only things that kept most people going through the day. Though Iris still preferred the Flash.

"What'd you find out?" Cadence asked, getting straight to the point.

Iris sighed, pushing the newspaper aside. She reached into her purse and pulled out a tiny notebook, where she kept all her information when she was interviewing and following leads on cases. "Okay, so I went back over everything we knew about that doctor's office. Central City Family Medical. It's where my dad used to take me all the time, so it's a legitimate office." She ran a hand through her hair. "Has been in practice for as long as I can remember." She tapped her finger against the notebook. "But it did get bought out by a different company."

"A different company?" Ryder asked, his eyebrows coming together.

"A few years back," Iris agreed. "They were about to shut it down, budget cuts, changes in medical insurance, they weren't able to keep the same amount of patients they had before."

Cadence nodded. "I remember that," She remarked. "There was a letter in the mail saying that management was changing and there may be some people whose insurance wouldn't be taken anymore." She shook her head. "It caused a big uproar, was in the news for weeks. Medicaid and Medicare wasn't going to be taken and that was a lot of who their clientele was." She shrugged. "It's what I used before I got a job that had great insurance."

"Right, and because of that, because of that switch, they used it to upgrade their systems within their medical network," Iris said.

"Which was why they needed Brady's fingerprint," Ryder reasoned. He shook his head, blonde brows coming together. "And why they refused to wipe it when I then to."

Iris sucked her lips into her mouth, chewed her lower lip. Tapped her fingertips against her notebook. "I understand she was doing her job," she said slowly. "The receptionist. But I looked into it further, Ryder and I did. And everything seemed alright. Until I looked at it form a different angle." She cleared her throat. "it was no coincidence that the management of the medical center changed and, the next thing any of us knew, Carmichael Elementary was receiving a notice that there were more shots and immunizations the kids needed."

Cadence huffed, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin atop her hands. "They realized how many metahuman attacks happened at the at school and were using it to weed out metas. Changed it so that the insurance was taken were for those most of the parents from the school had."

"Exactly," Iris agreed. "So that made it easier for them to take whomever was at Carmichael to go there. Plus, they'd already had the medical information of those that had already been with the office for some time. Especially if they'd been there since they were children."

"Which would explain why they'd have Brady's," Ryder mumbled.

"And why they would want Leah's," Cadence agreed. She took in a deep breath, dropping her hands into her lap. "She moved to Central City, her medical records would've have to have been transferred form Gotham. They would've wanted updated records for her."

"And through those records, they used it to try and weed out who's a metahuman?" Cadence shook her head, closing her eyes. "Something through that isn't making sense. They would've fingerprinted every kid that went through the office for…?" Then her face cleared, her eyes flashing with a burning flame. "Fingerprints. If they were trying to figure out who, say, Shadowhunter is, there'd be fingerprints from any of the scenes they'd have there."

"But why would they want to find Shadowhunter? Why not the Flash?"

Iris broke in once more. "The Fastest Man Alive who wears what may as well be a full body suit when he's out doing what needs to be done? Almost impossible. He could run off and clean his fingerprints before anyone would know he was there." She lowered her voice to add, "Not to mention he wears gloves all the time." She brushed her hair back over her shoulders, pointed to the notebook once more. "But for Shadowhunter? People know he's young. May as well be a kid. And with all of the metahuman incidents coming through the school…"

"…It's not weird that one of them may be Shadowhunter," Cadence agreed. "_Especially _if they got fingerprints from the incidents there." Iris watched her, could practically see her heart sink as the news got to her. "The time that Grodd controlled Leah…it's got to be on tape somewhere. Since the first attack, with that kid with the electricity, they've amped up the security measures ever since. They may already know."

"Christ." Ryder brought up his hands and rubbed the over his face. Then he leaned back in his seat, sticking his lower jaw out in what seemed to be a pout. Iris smiled, despite herself, having seen the same look from Brady multiple times before. "How do we know? How much longer until they bust in and arrest him?"

"They can't arrest him," Iris reassured him.

"No, but they could hurt him," Cadence insisted. "People out there are tagging things like no tomorrow. Hate crimes are going up." She shook her head. "I can't even begin to explain how many times there's been people coming through the CCPD because of assault because they suspected someone of being a metahuman." Ryder grunted once more. Cadence reached out and took his hand in hers, gently squeezing it. "We're not going to let anything happen to him."

Ryder turned in his seat, facing her. He lowered his voice, almost to a snarl. "You said the same thing before and look what happened now. He's almost been killed twice, and who knows what they're going to do now that they know he's Shadowhunter?" He looked away for a moment, his voice cracking at the end. "Ii didn't have much time to spend with him, I don't want the last few years to be all I have."

Iris cleared her throat, looking away. Feeling as if she were intruding on a private moment. _I guess that's how Barry felt, _she realized. How Barry had sat back and treaded carefully with anything that had to do with moving into a fatherly role for the young boy when Ryder came back to his life. Even before, when he was simply just Brady's friend.

"You think I'm going to let that happen?" Cadence replied. But she didn't sound offended, scared, or mad. But empathetic. Compassionate. "I wouldn't let it happen to anyone, let alone Brady. Not even you. We're going to figure this out."

Iris sucked in a sharp breath. "I hate to have to tell you this," Iris said slowly, looking Cadence and Ryder in the eye. Making them take their eyes off each other, the family moment broken. "But the moment they got Brady's finger prints, the moment they had his name…it's possible that the information was leaked out. Sold maybe. To the black market, or much worse."

"Worse?" Ryder repeated.

Iris looked meaningfully at Cadence, who lowered her head. "Lex Luthor," she said.

Iris nodded then jumped when Ryder slammed his fist against the tabletop and cursed at the top of his lungs, not caring of the stares that turned his way.

"He's trying to get the MRA passed. And, if he knows…" Cadence's brain moved a mile a minute, eyes shifting back and forth as she thought. "They know he's Shadowhunter, and, probably know I'm Flare." She nodded, eyes narrowing just slightly. "Which is why someone tried to kill me." She looked to Ryder. "And they'll probably go after you, too."

"I can handle them," Ryder said stiffly. "I'm not a meta. It's y'all I'm worried about."

"There's more," Iris said with a sigh. "Guess who has an investment in the company that bought out the doctor's office."

* * *

Tess lifted an eyebrow as she walked past a row of closed office doors. She looked at her watch then walked faster, the lapel of her suit jacket billowing as she went. She hurried to her office, sticking her keys in the door and unlocked it. Tess dropped her stack of books and papers into the chair beside the desk and went to her computer. She pushed her hair back behind her shoulders, bringing up her schedule for the day, frowned deeper when she saw an email in her inbox saying the joint class she was going to be teaching with Marlize DeVoe was cancelled.

There goes all her rushing after class let out late. She should've known something was up when she saw her office door closed. Marlize was someone who worked hard to make sure she was accessible to her students. Her door was always open, even after her office hours were done. It being so early in the day with her not there was different.

Tess opened the email.

_Tess,_

_I'm sorry to have to let you know in such a crude form of communication as an email. But I find it to be much more valuable than leaving a text message or a phone call as I understand things do become difficult with sudden changes due to an illness._

_Clifford has suddenly fallen ill; a side effect of his muscular dystrophy and I must tend to him for the day. I hope it doesn't bring any inconvenience for the day as I know there was the class that we were supposed to teach together. However, I'm sure you understand._

_Thank you for your patience, I'll make sure ot make it up to you at a later time._

_Best,_

_Marlize DeVoe._

Tess hummed to herself, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. DeVoe had been just fine in the days before, continuously having lunch with her and Marlize. Rather, Marlize had all but served him his food. But DeVoe hadn't seemed to mind. His paralysis had done nothing to his brain, which was his biggest asset. Something obvious to many as they sat in his classes. Sure, some of them may have failed, but others at least enjoyed the class enough that having a B or a C didn't deter them from taking another course with Professor DeVoe.

She tapped her fingers against her chin, only looking up from her computer when she heard a voice say, "Bad email?" Tess tore her eyes away from the computer screen to find a young girl standing in front of her, a but too young for university. But who was she judging? There were those that were smarter than she could hope to be, by five years old. And there was much to be said about those that turned out to be more than child prodigies. How many kids in the news had received their PHDs by the time they were sixteen?

And she thought those in STAR Labs were some of the smartest people she'd met. Caitlin had multiple masters and at least one PHD. She was more than smart. But the girl in front of her looked out of place for college. Dressed a little too young, even for the fashion that was going on that day. Her face was round, but angled toward the bottom, losing the last bits of baby fat that came once a young adult moved out of puberty. Her hair, what seemed to be a mixture of dark and light brown, easily changed depending on the time of year, a light smattering of freckles across her nose, and a kind smile that couldn't be displaced.

A twinkling in the eye that was filled with mirth and…a sense of knowledge, that she knew something others didn't. Tess couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about her, something about that look struck her as very familiar. If anything, despite her hand that twitched toward the gun she hid in the bottom of her desk drawer, Tess didn't sense any danger from the young woman.

But she couldn't be too careful.

"I'm sorry, were we scheduled to meet?" Tess asked her.

"No," the girl shook her head. She continued to glance around the office, brushing her hair back from her ears. "But I've heard a lot about you. Your work on human behavior and how it works into today's society, making it so that we're able to figure out how the future would look? Not many people can do that."

"Now, if only they would listen to me," Tess replied with a warm smile. She folded her arms, leaning back in her seat. "Might get me the Nobel."

"Or at least the Pulitzer."

"That's what my husband says."

"Harrison Wells," the girl continued. "One of the brightest names in science and technology than anyone has ever seen." She shook her head, as if mystified. "Can't believe so many great people came from here."

"CCU might not measure up to MIT or Harvard, on paper, but it's still a great school to work at." She studied the girl, blue eyes steeling every so slightly. "Or at lest be affiliated with." She tapped her fingers over her arm. "I'm sorry, where did you say you were from?"

"I didn't," the girl said quickly. She lightly bopped herself on the forehead. "I guess I should have. It's a bit rude, you know if you don't." She stepped toward the desk, thrusting out her hand, nearly knocked over a stack of papers on the desk as she did so. "Oh! Sorry. I'm sorry." She picked them back up, moving quickly. "I didn't mean to."

"It's alright," Tess replied with a light laugh, oddly charmed by the girl. "I've already entered those grades in the system anyway."

The girl's nose wrinkled. "You mean you don't have it all automated?" She put the papers back. "You know, with a machine that scans the papers and automatically punches out the grade based on format, structure, punctuation, and overall thesis?"

"That's…oddly specific."

"Just an idea. You know what they say about ideas." She laughed. "They're salvation by imagination." She shrugged. "At least, that's what my riding teacher says."

Tess couldn't quite imagine her being a horseback rider, if she could hardly walk into a room without knocking something over. Nevertheless, any suspicion Tess felt about the girl continued to hold at an even level. Suspicious, but not too suspicious. If she wasn't in any of her classes, wasn't in college, what was she doing in her office?

"What's your name, sweetie?" Tess asked.

"Oh!" She smiled warmly. "I'm Alexis."

* * *

**A/N:** And, finally, Ryder is back and so is Iris, Harry, and Jesse. Getting back into some action with the next chapter, but I bet a lot of you didn't expect to see the person who showed up at the end so soon! And, of course, there is a tie-in with the DeVoes, as you can see, I did hint to the first one you'll see in connection with them in Cisco's and Caitlin's part.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **With Brady's skipping school or being late, there is a reason he wants to be homeschooled, or at least has suggested it. Mallory actually starts out as being a key player to the story very, very soon. I planned on having her in the story from the very beginning but had to push a lot of things back, she's one of the few people in Cade's life that don't know about her being Flare, so that'll bring up a lot of interesting things. Especially with their wedding coming.

**DarkHelm145: **We'll see if Brady ever calls him that. Right now, they've got to deal with Abra Kadabra.


	21. Team Building

**20**

_Team Building_

* * *

"Barry!...Barry, where are you?"

"I don't know, I lost Caitlin. There are too many of them, man."

Brady ducked toward the ground, groaning in pain when he felt the armor strapped to his chest collide painfully against him. _That wasn't a good idea, _he thought, continuing to army crawl forward in the darkened room. He looked to the side, squinting to see if his eyesight would've adjusted through the dim lighting. Still hadn't, not as much as it would have been if the red laser beams weren't flying everywhere. It would've helped if someone, _anyone _was wearing something light colored.

_Ow! _Brady's head collided with a darkened corner. He backed away, rubbed the growing bump and continued to army crawl across the floor. He shuffled as quickly as he could, dodge-rolling out of the way when he heard thundering footsteps and shouting coming closer. He pressed his back against the wall and waited, holding his hands between his knees as he waited with bated breath.

Sweat dotted his forehead, the air around him suddenly growing stuffier as the seconds passed. Screams and shouts echoed around him as he continued to hide. Brady looked around for a second, glanced up in the nearby corners to be sure there were no cameras pointed his way, then phased through the wall behind him. He turned, crying out in surprise when he saw Leah suddenly kneeling on the ground in front of him.

Her brown eyes widened in surprise at his sudden appearance before relief moved through her face. "You're okay," She breathed.

"Yeah, they haven't gotten me, yet," Brady replied. He moved closer to her, keeping his voice low among the shouting and sounds of blasting going off around them. "Have you seen Connor? Did he get hit?"

Leah's blonde ponytail bobbed as she shook her head. "I don't know, I haven't seen him in a while. I lost him as soon as the lights went out."

"Cisco! We have to get out of here!"

"No, you can take them," Cisco insisted. "Just listen to me. You just need to do one thing." He paused, taking in a deep breath. Brady could practically see the expression on his face, a dramatic expression with his eyebrows pinched together. Teeth clenched so tightly that the vein in his forehead was starting to pop out. Brady guessed he was right when Cisco then gave an impassioned, "Run Barry, run!"

There was a moment of silence before Brady heard Barry's screaming. A sign of his charging toward whatever was coming toward him. How many times had Brady heard him do that in battle? Enough to know that there wasn't a chance that he was about to throw a very bright, very powerful lightning bolt. No, this time, Brady knew he was about to throw himself out into the open, opening himself to the possibility of being attacked.

Which was exactly what he did as, seconds later, Barry's triumphant screaming was immediately cut off, turning to a groan of disappointment. The sound of electronic lasers and gunfire went off, reaching Brady's ears. Brady popped up, resting his arms on the railing that gave him a vantage point over the laser tag field. He cocked his head to the side, watching as his future step-father looked up at him, bringing his arms up and slapped it back to his sides.

"Wow," Brady drawled. He pointed toward Barry with the plastic gun in his hands. "You're terrible at this." He shook his head. "I think that's, literally, the twentieth time I've shot you today."

"Oh, come on," Barry complained. He turned to the side and gestured with his own gun as the plastic vest that sat across his front flashed with the warning that he'd been shot. "They got me." Even from where he stood, Brady could see the pout on Barry's face, deepened by the shadows of the laser tag maze.

"Oh, you have failed this city," Cisco growled before getting to his feet. He came flying around the same corner that Barry had recently been hiding behind, plastic gun blazing as he did so. He managed to take a few steps forward, a few more than Barry had, before he was stopped in his tracks. His own vest lit up with the signal that he'd been hit.

"Ha ha!" Brady cheered. He waved his gun behind Barry and Cisco, making them whip around to the other side of the laser tag arena where his classmate—and the birthday boy—Chad McConell stood, waving his own gun.

"For real, Chad?" Cisco demanded, throwing his hands in the air. His glossy locks flew around his face as he whirled around to face the young boy. "In the back?!"

Chad merely gestured with his gun. "Suck it, old man!"

"Ooh." Brady turned to the side, seeing Connor and Leah leaning against the railing beside him. Connor was the one spoke, he grinned as he shook his head, looking down at his friends. Laughed when Barry's and Cisco's heads both jerked back in surprise at the name that Chad had called them.

Caitlin then came scurrying around the corner, clutching her own gun close to her chest. She looked toward Barry and Cisco, then did a double take when she saw their lit-up vests, compared to her dark one. "Wait, did you guys die already?" Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. "Really? Come on, this is like, the fifth—"

Leah whipped out her gun and aimed it toward Caitlin, shooting her directly in the chest. "Boom!" Caitlin looked down, shoulders slumping when she realized she'd lost, too. Leah cheered loudly, throwing her hands into the air while Brady and Connor joined in on her celebration, high-fiving each other as they did so.

"Kids these days," Cisco complained as a loud alarm went off and the lights within the arena went up. "They take these things so seriously. It's just a game you guys." But Brady, Leah, and Connor went right on cheering as the game announcer called them out as the team who won. Cisco gestured with his gun once more and sneered up at the three pre-teens. "Churlish!"

"You're just mad that you lost to a bunch of kids," Leah teased. She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and added, "You're getting old, Cisco!"

"You know, I think I liked it better when you didn't talk much," Cisco shot back.

Leah rolled her eyes. "I'm sure everyone says the same thing about you, Cisco."

Brady and Connor laughed again, this time with Barry and Caitlin joining in while Cisco shook his first toward the young kids. "I'm going to get you for that one, Brooklyn! You and me, and we'll see who has the better shot!"

"Yeah, we'll see," Leah replied. She waved her gun and the three headed down the stairs toward the game floor. Once there, she used the nozzle of her gun to point toward the large scoreboard that sat on the wall. "Because, so far, I'm beating you by more than one thousand points."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"Cisco, why don't you quit while you're behind," Caitlin suggested, placing her hand on Cisco's shoulder. Squeezed it gently. "I don't think your years of video game play is going to help you here."

"Clearly," Barry grumbled. He twisted his gun back and forth in his hands, pressing his finger into the trigger a few times. "I think mine's defective."

Brady grinned. "Don't be such a spoil sport…we can still beat you in the arcade, too."

"Anyway, I'm sure everyone's hungry," Caitlin said, moving to take off her vest and attached gun. "Let's go see if the cake's ready."

"And I'm sure mom's done with telling people what to do, too," Brady agreed.

Or, at least, was getting to the point that she didn't want to have to look after anyone else's kids again. It'd been easy for her to get talked into it, another mom suggesting she at least had the energy for it while subtly mentioning, once again, that she was a younger mother compared to all the others. And, of course, his mom had agreed it with a forced smile, not wanting anything else from her past to be used against her.

Brady followed his friends to the front of the game center to return the vest and gun, counting the coins he had left in his pocket, working to figure out what prize he wanted to get. He didn't have nearly enough or the new gaming system. _Not that Cisco couldn't build me one if I asked, _Brady thought with a wry smile. They gave up their weapons then went outside where most of the party was converging around a fleet of food trucks that flanked a table filled with a large birthday cake.

"Chad really knows how to throw his wealth around," Leah commented, gently shaking her head while gazing at the crowd. She lifted her hand in a wave toward Alicia, who was on the other side of the party with Rachel and the rest of their friend group. Alicia looked up and waved back enthusiastically. "It's almost as bad as Alicia's last party."

"I don't think anything could beat Alicia's last party," Connor remarked. Brady made a grunting sound in agreement. The daughter of the police chief could get whatever she wanted for a party and had proved it multiple times. Though her last one had been ruined by a metahuman attack. "She had iphones as a goodie bag gift."

"I had to give mine back," Brady said with a frown.

"I took mine apart," Connor replied. Brady's eyes widened. "Just to see if I could make the signal output for Wi-Fi even stronger, to make a bigger hot spot than the phone itself."

Leah shook her head. "My boyfriend likes to take things apart for fun." Connor smiled. "I can't remember the last thing I did for my birthday. My parents don't really celebrate it." Connor reached up and put his arm around her shoulders. The two smiled at each other and Connor immediately dropped his arm form her once more.

"Come on, let's get some food." Brady raced toward the picnic table that Joe, Cecile, and Iris had commandeered. Brady scrambled to the table and swung himself over the bench, waiting for his food to be handed to him. Cisco sulked over along with Barry and Cisco, glaring at Chad as the young boy walked by.

"You better watch yourself, Chad," Cisco called out. He raised his chin defiantly when the birthday boy walked by with his friends. "Come at me at the paintball field next time. I'll kick your little a…." He broke off into a nervous laugh when he spotted Chad's mother walking along behind him. "Hey! Mrs. McConnell. Chad's a treasure. He really is. He really…" Cisco turned and sat on the bench, lowering his chin. "Chad cheats!"

"Or, maybe, you're all just a little too old to be playing laser tag," Iris pointed out. Nevertheless, she rested her chin in her hands and smiled, laughing at the sour expression on Cisco's face. "It's just a game, Cisco! Not one that's worth pulling muscles and accusing little kids of cheating."

"Nothing with Chad is ever just a game," Connor pointed out. He rolled his eyes. "Why do you think people don't like him? You should see him in PE, he treats the whole thing like the Olympics." He nudged Brady on the arm. "Sounds like someone else I know."

Brady smiled back.

"Ugh, PE." Barry made a face. For a moment, it was as if his entire life flashed before his eyes, if not a horrific memory that he tried his best not to think about. "I think I was the only person who ever got a C in PE."

"D plus," Cisco commented.

"Straight up failure right here," Caitlin said, jerking her thumb towards herself.

Iris shook her head. "That's just pathetic. You get points for just showing up. How do you fail PE?"

"Well, Iris." Cisco laced his fingers together. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose. Brady started to grin, knowing they were in for a good story. "When you have a bunch of self-proclaimed nerds who are forced into that fine class that most would call physical education but the rest of us would call torture, there are many ways that you could fail. Liiike," he pretended to think about it. "Not wanting to take showers after class."

"Not being able to throw," Caitlin said. She started to count on her fingers. "Not being able to do a push-up. Not being able to do a pull up."

"Barry, here, couldn't even run," Joe remarked. He and Cecile came back to the table with a mountain of food piled high on a few trays that they set in the middle of the table. Iris, Brady, Connor, and Leah burst out laughing as Barry scowled, resting his arms on the top of the splintery picnic table. "Come on, Barry, it's not like that was a secret. All anyone has to do is pay attention to your running form and they'll know that you run like—"

"—Like a duck?" Cadence broke in. She leaned over the table, picking up a grape tomato off the salad Caitlin had ordered and popped it into her mouth with a grin.

"For real?" Barry's expression turned wounded, hoping it'd make his fiancée give him a little bit of sympathy. It was nowhere to be found. As long as Barry and Cadence had known each other, Cadence seemed to make it her mission to find a way to tease Barry about everything, while he struggled to find anything he could tease her about in response. Very humorous to watch, from the outside looking in. Though Brady was sure Barry didn't find it to be as amusing.

"Sorry, babe, but you actually do run like a duck," Cadence said with an apologetic shrug. Then she lowered her voice enough so that Cecile couldn't hear and added, "At least not when you're using your powers." Then she cleared her throat and reached out, running her fingers through Brady's hair. "You've been in there for a long time. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah!" Brady beamed up at his mother before turning his cheeky grin toward Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco. "We kicked their butts." He fist-bumped Connor and Leah, making Joe give a wheezing laugh in response.

"You better have," Cadence replied. "Because this is the last time I'm going to chaperone another birthday party like this. I forgot I'd agreed to do it because of that…" She clenched her teeth, eyes turning hard. "…that _damn_ PTA Meeting. I _hate _going to those!" She folded her arms. "This is the reason why." She shook her head, looking over the numerous decorations and activities that'd been set up. "And I thought _I _was spoiled."

"Because you miss out on some epic games of laser tag?" Cisco asked. He paused to acknowledge her second point. "And you are."

Iris rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's it. We're jealous we had to miss out on a bunch of screaming kids trying to kill each other." She sat up straight and motioned toward the food that rapidly grew cold in the middle of the table. "Can we eat now, dad, or are you going to, uh, keep holding our food hostage?"

"Right. Uh…" Joe glanced at the spread around the table. "A salad and a pretzel for Caitlin. A corn dog for Iris. Two franks for Cisco. Burgers for Connor, Leah, and Brady. And…three burgers, five churros, and six funnel cakes for Barry."

The speedster's face flushed as the biggest pile of food was placed in front of him. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's, uh, not all for me."

"The churros are mine!" Cadence grabbed them off his plate, quickly biting off the end of one. She smiled happily, hummed to herself, wiggled her shoulders in a mini dance as she chewed. "I needed _something _to keep my energy up while having to watch a hoard of brats." Brady made a face. "No offense."

Cecile sighed, brushing her hair back from her ears. "Well, I'm sorry that the pipes in the house were making this weird, annoying sound. We would've just had you all over for dinner instead of having to be roped into the birthday party from hell!" She winced as a blaring alarm went off from inside the arcade; someone, somewhere must've won a lot of tickets. "Do these places have to be so _loud?"_

Leah shrugged. "Maybe you're just sensitive to the sound, Ms. Horton," she suggested kindly.

"She's not sensitive to anything," Joe said quickly. A little too quickly. He cleared his throat and looked down at the club sandwich in front of him as if it were suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world.

Barry watched Joe closely. Then his face cleared as he clued into what Cecile had said and rolled his eyes. His voice took on a sarcastic note as he turned to lock eyes with Iris and asked, "Squeaky pipes at the West house, what a surprise?"

"Mh-hmm." Iris nodded in response. Her own eyes rolling.

"Wait, you know the sound?" Cecile asked, her eyes widening. "That…" she trailed off, her face screwing up in thought. Then she produced a high-pitched sound from her mouth that made Barry and Iris start to nod. "Yeah, every time I've been at the house it'd make that noise!"

"It's been doing that for, what, 18 years?" Barry asked.

"Every house has a personality," Joe grumbled. "Ours just likes to be heard." He cleared his throat, quickly changing the subject. "Anyway, how's the wedding planning going?" Cadence and Brady made groaning noises at the same time. Joe laughed to himself, "What? Did I ask the wrong question?"

"No, it's just that every time someone mentions anything about the wedding, my mom calls," Cadence remarked. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it in her palm, waiting for it to ring. "I swear, she has some sort of radar about it."

"You can't be serious."

"She's serious," Brady said, at the same time a peal of a ringtone pierced the air. He nodded towards his mother's hand. "See?"

Cadence sighed heavily. Her eyebrows shot upwards as she answered the phone with a dull, "Hi, mom." Instead of the greeting in response, Maya immediately started in on a conversation as if they'd been talking for the past twenty minutes.

"The Wexler-Walcawiks broke up!" Cadence jerked her head away from her phone, wincing as her mother's screeching voice reached her ears. Cadence reached up and wiggled a finger in her ear.

At Maya's words, Barry immediately perked up. He speed-ate through the rest of his food and mumbled a "For real?" through a full mouth.

Through the speaker, Maya heard him enough to excitedly squeal, "Yes!" In response, which made Cadence jerked her head back once more. Shooting an exasperated look simultaneously at her phone and at her fiancé.

"Hell yeah!" Barry cheered. Cadence glared at him. "Is that…not good…?"

"Yeah, and why are we happy that their love is dead?" Cisco added.

Maya continued speaking as if the question was being directed toward her. "Because they were getting married and the Propizzio the weekend of the second, so that means the venue is now open! Which means we can open the invitation list to some more people. Which means we're going to have to think more about the kinds of place settings and name tags you want to choose. The menu…we can expand the menu now that we'll have ore guests, more money to spend…How lucky!"

"Yay," Cadence said weakly. She brought up a hand and scratched at her forehead. "Mom, can we talk about this later? I'm chaperoning a party."

"Yes, yes, I understand. But, sweetie, we're going to have to let Mallory know about the change so that—"

"Bye, mom!" Cadence quickly hung up, sliding her phone back into her pocket.

Brady quickly glanced at Caitlin then looked away. He ducked his head, finding the rest of his burger to suddenly be so interesting, and understanding why Joe did the same with his food—though not sure the _exact _reason why. But this was more delicate. He'd been surprised and happy to see Caitlin join them at the party that day, but felt the awkward tension as soon as she got there.

Then the tension was back. Brady wondered if Caitlin knew his mother had chosen her high school best friend to be her Maid of honor. Wondered if it bothered her too much that she wasn't part of the wedding party…or knew much of the wedding at all because of who she was.

_Or who she used to be, _Brady quickly corrected himself.

"I thought she drove me crazy before, but she's really doing it now," Cadence said, rubbing her temples. Added under her breath in a mumble that only Brady could hear, "I wonder if I shot myself in the head if I'd be able to heal from it."

"She just wants to make sure you have the perfect wedding," Caitlin said kindly. Her brown eyes were kind, though seemed haunted with… something. "Can you blame her?"

"Well, Cait, if your mom wanted to throw you, her only daughter, her only child, a big ass wedding, what would you do?" Cisco asked. He threw his arm around Caitlin's shoulders, gently rocking her back and forth. "Wouldn't you let her do everything she wanted? Or would you put your foot down and let her know that it's _your _day?"

Caitlin swatted his arm off her shoulder with a gentle shake of her head. A small smile came to her lips. "Well, when Ronnie and I were engaged, I did a lot of the planning myself. Some of the other scientists at STAR Labs would help me out." She poked Cisco on the arm. "I remember you were very invested in the color of flowers we were going to have. Blue or orange."

"I still think orange," Cisco defended himself. "It's a very warm, autumn color. Goes with everything." He pointed to Barry and Cadence. "Keep that in mind, and if you do it, then I deserve all the credit. Orange is a good color, it brings you two together nicely." He gave an exaggerated thumbs up, making everyone laugh.

"My mom wasn't involved very much with my wedding," Caitlin continued. "We didn't have a good relationship then. Not that we do now, but…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "It helped that Ronnie was involved with the wedding as well. Everything we wanted to do with the day, we talked about and decided together." She smiled fondly. "Not that we didn't have times where we argued, things did get a little tense because we worked together, too." She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Just remember that you guys are a team and at the end of the day, the ceremony if for everyone else. The party is for everyone else. But the marriage is for you."

"And don't forget…open bar," Iris said.

"You know it," Joe agreed. Father and daughter leaned over the table to give each other a high-five. "All the best weddings I've been to have had an open bar."

Barry's eyes narrowed in thought. He tipped his head to the side. "Aren't those also the same weddings that you and Captain Singh were called to to break up."

"Yes, and even with the cells being filled with drunk mothers-in-law depressed over losing their songs, fathers of the bride who got into drunken fist fights, and the weird cousins who thought it was a good idea to take a joyride in the car that'd take the new couple to the hospital, they were the best damn weddings I've ever been to!"

"Just make sure you remember to tip the bartender," Cadence said. She folded her arms. "I've done enough weddings where the only tips I got were phone numbers and that was not…" she trailed off, noticing all eyes turned her way. "You know I was a bartender before I became a Zumba instructor."

"Yeah…was that before or _after _you were a massage therapist?" Cisco asked.

"I thought it was after working in the flower shop," Caitlin said.

"Or maybe when you wer ea babysitter," Brady chimed in.

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Haha." She waved her hands in the air. "Pop quiz! How many jobs have I had before the CCPD?"

"Nine," Barry said confidentially, casually as he looked through the menu to figure out what else he wanted from the food truck. "You can't usually hold a job for more than a year." Then he noticed the silence around and looked up. "What? It's not like it's a secret. You said so yourself."

"Yeah, but I never knew you actually kept track," Cadence replied, amused. "I mean, it took a long conversation to convince Captain Singh to give me a chance with the CCPD because of my track record."

"David can be a little hard to convince sometimes, but he always comes around." Cecile got up from the table. "I'm going to get some more food. Looks like we'll need it and if someone else is paying for it, there's no need for us to not go all out, right?"

"It's like the Newlywed game," Leah remarked with a tiny smile. "Who knows each other better? Miss. Cadence or Mr. Allen?"

Cisco shot his hand into the air. "My bet's on Cade!"

"Dude!" Barry's eyes widened, hurt as how quickly his best friend had sided. On the other hand, Cadence practically preened like a peacock. "Okay, it's not like you don't know us either. We practically tell you guys everything."

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Iris clapped her hands together. "Who…makes the better breakfast?"

All eyes turned to Brady on that one. He looked up, cheeks bulging from stuffing his face with a large bite of his burger. His eyes shifted around the faces looking at him and he shrugged in response. "I do," he said, making Barry and Cadence laugh. Not that his mother nor Barry couldn't cook, they could and switched duties regularly. But Barry had a tendency to burn things because he cooked them too quickly, and his mom didn't branch out with variety too much, having had way too many options growing up that she preferred things to be simple. And he had tow built in guinea pigs with what he liked to try cooking so…

"He has us on that one," Cadence agreed. "It's one less duty I've got to do and as long as he doesn't set the place on fire, I'm happy."

"Okay." Iris tapped her chin. "Who has the better shower singing voice?"

"Even I know that one, we did karaoke together" Caitlin remarked. She pointed toward Barry—ignoring Cisco's outraged cry of "you went to karaoke without me?!"—who cringed. At the same time as Cadence. Both clearly thinking of the same thing with the memory of Barry's singing talents. "That's him. Have you ever heard him? His voice his amazing!"

"No, it's not," Barry said modestly.

"Yes, it is!"

"Well." Barry paused, eyes shifting. "Kara's got a better voice than me, anyway. Have you ever heard her? She can blow the roof off of the place."

"Kara can sing, too?" Cisco asked.

"Her name's Supergirl," Caitlin pointed out. "it's kind of implied."

Connor turned his head and looked at Brady with a smile so sudden that Brady looked at him suspiciously form the corner of his eye. "Can Debby sing?" Connor asked with that same, pointed smile.

A scowl immediately came to Brady's face, but was unable to keep the curious mental picture of her singing out of his head. "How should I know?" Brady looked away, feeling his cheeks flush. "By the way, are you getting a band or a DJ?"

"You should get a DJ," Iris pointed out. "Better opportunities for dancing."

"But a band can really set the tone for a wedding," Cisco pointed out. "Believe me, I have a lot of family." He waved a hand in front of his nose. "And there have been plenty of stinkers because of the music that was played."

"What about you, Joe?" Barry turned toward the man, who looked startled that all the attention was suddenly on him. "Do you have any words of wisdom to share?"

"Yeah." Iris laced her fingers together, wiggling her shoulders. "Do you think you're going to be tying the knot anytime soon?

At that, both Joe and Cecile, who had taken that time to return from the food truck, started to wave their hands, deflecting the change in conversation topic toward them. Brady smiled to himself, looking around the table at his friends. At his team. At his family. There were more than enough times that people tried to tear them apart, that things were difficult for them, that they kept secrets from each other and that their numbers dwindled. But they were always able to come back from it, and be a stronger team.

Barry was back from the Speed Force and it was like everything managed to fall back into place. There was someone after him again, of course. But the rest of Team Flash had grown strong in his absence and were doing well in continuing to grow as the days passed. Especially now that he had finally been able to tell Barry what'd been bothering him for so long.

Holding onto dark thoughts for that long…it hadn't done well for what'd been going on with the other side of him that he'd been trying to hold off. Demon, as he was now starting to call it, was something that'd only come up a few times here and there. First when he was facing off against Breathtaker, then when in battle a few times. The last time they'd faced Abra Kadabra had been when he managed to fend it off more than he'd done before. He had to pay attention to his fear when in the throes of battle but…

He couldn't help but wonder what it would mean for the team if…_when_…he finally told them about Demon. A lot of tests, for sure, but after that…well, it didn't matter much anyway, he supposed. After having been benched. It was probably best, now that he thought about it. Not due to whomever it was sending out the Samuroids and who created the Bus Metas, but what happened if he completely lost control during battle?

He was broken out of his thoughts with Iris's comment of, "But, I must say, I'm really looking forward to seeing Brady stand up there in his suit," which made Brady make a face, making everyone laugh. It didn't take long for him to laugh along with them.

Who knew when was the last time they were going to laugh? Who knew when was the next time they were going to be able to get together like that and have a good time? Not have to worry about any metas or ruthless villains trying to exact revenge on them? It was in the back of his mind every time he stepped out the door, but he still had to live life. Life was always worth living.

They had a wedding to get prepared for. It was supposed to be one of the best days of his mother's life. Supposed to be when they were really going to start being a family. They had life to look forward to and he was going to focus on that.

"I've got one," Brady said. "Who's going to be the first to cry?"

"Barry," was the unanimous answer before the entire table burst out laughing.

* * *

**A/N:** A little bit of everyone in this chapter and some time for Team Flash to be normal before they have to go back into being Team Flash! I hope you guys enjoyed it, I planned on having the action come back in this one, but things didn't work out the way I originally planned and this chapter came up instead. Also, I couldn't remember if I had it that Cecile knew Barry was Flash yet (I'm pretty sure she doesn't) and had to work around some things with that here as well.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	22. Shock Collar (1)

**21**

_Shock Collar_

* * *

Cadence opened her eyes when she felt a light pressure to her cheek. She looked over to see Barry leaning over her. Then her eyes shifted toward the clock on the bedside table. "Is it the end of the world?" Voice a low mumble. "Since when is Barry Allen the first one up?"

"Sorry," Barry replied, still whispering. He knelt toward her. "I have an early start and Captain Singh is going to breathe down my neck if I'm late."

Rubbing at her eye, Cadence yawned lightly and asked, "And deciding to sit here and talk to me is helping you because…?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm already late," he replied. He tilted his head. "Which, incidentally, is your fault."

She gave a cheeky smile in response, lifting her head to rest her cheek in her upraised palm. "That's not what you were saying last night," she pointed out, making Barry blush and look away. "You need to relax, Bare, if's not like Captain Singh's going to keep track of how many times you're going to be late when you've been late so much as it is." She made a gesture with her fingers, making it look like s headless figure running. "All you have to do is race in and—"

"—And let him know that I'm the Flash?" Barry shook his head. "'I don't think so." He gestured toward her. "and it's not like he knows you're Flare, either. And I plan on keeping it that way."

Cadence thought for a moment, studying the serious expression on Barry's face. She rolled onto her back, pulling her blankets up to cover her front, then leaned toward him. "Do you have time to be a little later?" She asked. He looked at her curiously. "There's something I should've told you before, but I wasn't even sure how to wrap my head around it."

"That's never good," Barry said.

"Ryder and I met up with Iris," She explained, pulling her hair back from her face. "She had looked further into what was going on with Central City Family Medicine."

"Okay…" Barry said slowly, clearly unsure of what was going on.

"When Brady went to the doctor that day, after being told by the school that he needed another checkup, that was when he was forced into some immunizations. When he had his fingerprints made because they said it was some so-called new technology to track identity? There's more to it than we originally thought. They were going to shut down a few years ago, for a lot of reasons, but they were able to stay open once new management bought it out."

"Okay." Barry paused. Again, he took a second to mull it over. Reaching up a hand, he rubbed it over his face. "Why do I get the feeling that the people who bought it out are going to be less than great?" His voice was tinged with frustration, though Cadence could see in his eyes that he was seconds away from demanding to know everything. He was always someone who had to uncover the truth and learn as much as he could.

"It was Lex Luthor," Cadence replied. Barry's eyes widened in surprise. Moving his hand from rubbing over his face to pause over his mouth. She could practically see the gears turning in his head. "He bought the doctor's office."

"Why would Lex need to put an investment into a doctor's office?" He answered his own question a second later. ""Because of the metahuman attacks that've been happening at Brady's school. They're— He broke off for a second. As if unable to say the words out loud. "Trying to weed out metahumans with the fingerprinting identification process. Lured them in with the office and the immunizations."

"And the fingerprints?" Cadence prompted, impressed with how quickly he'd managed to figure out what she was implying. Then again, she'd always been impressed with the way he was able to work through difficulties, simply by talking aloud. And, she'd always found it endearing when he'd start babbling over something he was excited about.

"DNA matching," Barry concluded. "They'd be looking for who Shadowhunter is." His mind started to move a mile a minute. He stood, pacing back and forth across the room, skirting the foot of the bed. As the seconds passed, the he started to pace faster and faster. Enough so that Cadence would move her gaze from watching him to the floor to ensure that he hadn't started to burn a hole in the carpet. "All those crime scenes that we've gone through. All the news footage; they're already speculating how old he might be. If they've already got his fingerprints from the school, from the doctor's office…they'll have more information than we could ever try to hide." He ran his hands through his hair. "I think..." he paused, holding up his hand, as if to fend off any protests. "Okay, I know it's not my place to make decisions for Brady because I'm not his dad yet but…I think it might be a good idea if you took him out of school for a little while."

Cadence snorted. "And do what? Squeeze in homeschooling on top of everything else I'm already doing?" She gestured toward him. "Sorry, I you know you can do things fast, but you can't speed-train someone—force things into their heads. And you already know how Brady is about school."

"I think he's just bored," Barry replied. "Doesn't have enough of a challenge for everything that he's already learning." Then he quickly changed the subject back to what they'd been talking about before. "But if that's what we're already figuring out, then Lex probably already knows. And we know what's been going on with Lex and the MRA. I just think it'd be better if we took out the chance for any dangerous situations."

"We've already benched him," Cadence said. She slid out of bed and went to the closet to get dressed. "And Leah. And they're not happy about that. It's not like we can bench the whole team to make sure nothing happened." She looked over her shoulder at Barry. "I'm not saying we can't handle things on our own, we probably could but…" she shrugged gently. "Remember Grodd?"

Barry closed his eyes tightly, then looked away. She knew he remembered. They could barely go a day without taking a few minutes to think about it. About the people they'd lost because of the missiles that Grodd had released. The ones that they hadn't been able to stop before they crashed into the woods and killed acreage of wildlife…along with the innocent people that were there.

"That wasn't our fault, Cade," Barry said gently, finally opening his eyes again. "You know that."

Cadence hummed to herself, pulling on her clothes. "Yeah, that was all Grodd. And, in essence, it was all Solovar. It was a lot of things to blame." She folded her arms, tipping her head.

"What?" Barry asked gently, watching her closely.

"It's just…" Cadence shook her head. "No matter what, I know despite what you have to do with Captain Singh today, that you're going to look into this. Into what I just told you. You're going to be going to go out and do the same thing you always do, be the beacon of hope for everyone." She frowned, gently shaking her head, forcing her gaze up to meet his. "Sometimes, Barry, I just want to grab onto you and never let you go. Never let you run off again. But one day, the world will need you more than I do. And I don't want to be the one holding you back."

Barry moved to her side, pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, Cade. I have what I need right here. With you and Brady."

She nodded, but didn't respond. Didn't push the topic even further. They didn't have time to go into it any further, didn't know if there was anything else _to _say about it. She looked up at him, nodded, changed the subject. "But I do agree on taking Brady out of school." Barry's eyebrows rose. "Not permanently. Not even for a week. I was going to take him out of school for the day. I haven't spent much time with him, just him and me and…I really want to know what he thinks about what's been going on."

A half smile came to Barry's lips. "You mean what he thinks of the political climate in the metahuman versus non-metahuman debate all going throughout the city? I think he's very opinionated, really."

"That's what I was thinking," Cadence agreed. "Plus, he's got this thing with Black Blade and Abra Kadabra and he hasn't really said much about what happened with Breathtaker. So, I really just want to check in on him."

"Well, I'd join you, but I don't think Captain Singh has any more excuses that he'd take from me."

"I'd try groveling and begging for forgiveness." Her eyes shifted toward the clock.

"That's never worked before, so why would it work now?"

"Because you're _super _late." Cadence pointed to the clock on the bedside table. Barry's eyes shifted toward the clock, widened, then shifted back to her face. She gave a half smile before he disappeared in a gust of wind. "Have a good day," She said to the thin air, before leaving her room. She went down the stairs to the first floor of the penthouse and knocked on the door to Brady's room. Waited.

"Just a minute," Connor said politely, making her smile. Her smile widened when she heard Brady's low grunt just after Connor's friendlier response. He'd never been a morning person. All the times she had to take him to early doctor's appointments or dental appointments, he'd sit in her lap, pouting fiercely. Just like his father.

The thought made Cadence smile. She was still smiling, eyebrows twitching upwards in new amusement when the door to the room opened and Cadence saw a lump under the covers that was her son. "Let me guess," she said to Connor, who stood with a hand on his hip. "He's pretending to be asleep?"

Connor nodded.

Sighing, Cadence sighed and walked over to her son's bed. She warmed up her hand, the palm turning a light orange from a fire burning within, then plunged it under the covers. She reached around until she found Brady's ankle and tightened her grasp around it.

"Yeow!" Brady brought his knees up to his chest, yanking his ankle from his mother's grasp. He flung down the covers, glaring up at her. "Do you have to do that?" He brought them back over his head once more. "I'm sleeping."

"Yeah, your snoring is deafening," Cadence replied sarcastically. "It's making the floors shake." She folded her arms, watching Brady for a long moment. He still lay quietly under the blankets. Sighing, Cadence reached out and pulled down the blankets. She lifted her hand, pressed a finger to his eyelid and lifted it up. Then she reached over and did the same to his other eye.

"Okay, okay, I'm up!" Brady slapped her hands away. He sat up, glaring at her. "Do you _have _to do that?"

"Do I have to make up for the eleven years of torture that you've put me through when doing the same movements to wake me up?" Cadence turned her gaze toward the ceiling, pretending to think. "Yes, I think I do."

"Ha." Brady rolled his eyes. He reached up, running his hands over his face. "I'll get ready for school; you can go now."

"Wellllll," Cadence extended the word, making Brady look at her seriously. "I was thinking." She sat on the bed next to him. Brady cast a suspicious glance to Connor, who shrugged in response. "We haven't spent a lot of time together, lately. And I think it'd be great if we spent the day together."

Brady looked at her for a moment. A long moment. Stared straight at her, unblinking. But while he wasn't showing anything on the outside, Cadence knew him well enough to know he was trying his best not to show how excited he was. To let her know that he was trying his best not to get his hopes up.

"Really?" He asked tentatively.

"Really," Cadence replied. She turned toward Connor, tipping her head to direct her apologetic smile at him. "I'm sorry, Connor. It's just going to be us today."

"I understand," Connor replied calmly. "Have a good time."

Cadence turned her attention to him, tuned into her powers, looked to see if there was anything that would showcase if he were lying, but deduced he was telling the truth. Connor was a sweet kid, Cadence knew. He was too understanding for what should be something that would've normally made someone else in his position jealous. He lost his mother, and here his best friend was able to spend all the time in the world with his.

She made a mental note to ensure that she'd spent a day with Connor as well. She wasn't his mom but…with Oliver and Felicity in Star City, and Thea…he needed to have someone on his side, to make him feel special.

"What are we going to do then?" Brady asked. He tapped his fingers together, still looking suspicious. The suspicion lasted for a brief moment before annoyance seemed to settle in his eyes. "Before the metas hit, I mean?"

"Whatever you want," Cadence replied. She lifted her hand, palm facing outward, as if she were about to make her most solemn promise. Or a vow of silence. Like a vow of silence would work out well. Ttoo much of her job relied on her talking and…she was much better than when Barry started to babble. "Even if it's meta related, I'll follow your lead."

"I thought I was benched," Brady reminded her. Cadence did her best not to let her upper lip curl at the way her son was acting like a sarcastic snot. But then again, she understood his frustration. There was a time, years ago, where she had to hide who she truly was. It was a relief when she met Barry and could show that she was a metahuman and found someone who understood.

But the danger that surrounded him was different; he had politics hanging over his head, a group of adults who were going to determine his future, a group of people who felt he was, potentially, a danger to the city all because he had powers. _Well, _Cadence thought. _It's not that different than what you went through._

The only major difference was there was a 'field' for her to go out into. But, being in such proximity to Smallville, didn't seem to lessen the fears very much.

"Are you going to get dressed or not, bud?" Cadence decided to ask in reply.

Ignored the pointed question he was sending her way. She didn't have to agree to bench them, but with everything that was going on, it was the best turn of events. As it was, even she couldn't go a day without having to shut herself off the social climate that was starting to move through the city. Couldn't go a day without wondering if it was the day Team Flash and STAR Labs would be found out and they'd have to leave Central City.

Leaving rather than exposing herself as Flare seemed to be the better option, if things went South, as far as Brady as concerned, anyway. Or else, she'd sent him away with Ryder and deal with things on her own. But…truth be told, she didn't think she could leave Brady behind if the time ever came. She _did _leave her entire life behind when her parents tried to pressure into it years ago…

The next morning, Cadence turned away from the toaster and placed the blue paper plate down on the table in front of Brady before sliding down in the unoccupied seat in front of her son. She picked up a water bottle and took a long gulp before pushing it aside to glance at the front of the newspaper.

"I can once you get out."

Cadence got up from the bed and left the room, shaking her head. Part of her wondered why she was so excited to see Brady grow up. Especially when he was starting to hit his pre-teen years. Was she that much of a brat to her parents growing up?

She went into the kitchen, seeing Barry had left the newspaper spread haphazardly over the counter on his way out the door. As he seemed to do in his rush every morning. Cadence piled the newspaper back together, looking over the story that heralded the front page: _Luthor's MRA Gains Traction in Polls. _She looked to the by-line, _Iris West. _Cadence swallowed hard, briefly turning her head to the side, looking at nothing. She brought up a hand, running it through her hair, wondered if there was ever going to be a day where things would be normal, and she didn't have the weight of the world resting over them?

So far, things had been quiet since Breathtaker's defeat, since Savitar's—at the time-disappearance. Since Barry's return. The Samuroids needed to be handled, she had some more things to figure out with Amunet's help, there was Abra Kadabra but…how hard was it to have _one day_? Cadence closed the newspaper, pushing it aside. She would need to read it at some point, Iris always wrote compelling articles, but she couldn't focus on it that day.

Nevertheless, she found her mind drifting to the title. The MRA was gaining steam. The realization hit her harder than she'd thought or hoped it would. If it was gaining steam, then there was less of a chance for them to stay free as the days went on. The anti-meta movements, protests, tagging was proof of that. Things were getting more dangerous. Tagging and protests were one thing, but it added fuel to a fire that was about to become an inferno. One that was likely to leave everyone burned.

Incognito's posing as her, setting the apartment complex on fire, killing and wounding innocent civilians didn't help. Those that complained of whiplash and other friction burns when being raced around by the Flash didn't help. The worrying measures of regulating any child metas wasn't helping. The bombing from Grodd, the destruction…

It was all starting to blend together with no resolution in sight.

"I'm ready to go." Brady's sudden appearance at her side made her jump. She turned to him, watching as he rested his chin in his hands and watched her. His blue-green eyes—a combination of his mother's and father's, favoring one color over the other depending on what he was wearing—studied her face closely. It was almost like he was eight-year-old again, asking what exciting thing she'd done to help the city and being proud of her for it. She almost expected him to grin so widely that it showed off his two missing front teeth. Instead, his eyebrows quirked and he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason," Cadence replied. She reached out to ruffle his hair, laughing when he ducked his head away. Brady fixed his hair, swinging his head quickly to the side to make it all fall back into place. "So, what do you want to do first?"

"You mean, you didn't have the day planned?"

"Other than a pickup game in the park? Not so much."

Brady tapped his lips, making a low humming sound. He reached up to tug at his ear then yawned. Finally, he turned to his mom and said, "Let's go to Jitters first. Then we can play a game in the park."

"You're the boss," Cadence agreed. She grabbed her keys to the apartment, a soccer ball that sat nearby that she tucked under her arm, and motioned for Brady to leave out the front door. He grabbed his keys the the apartment as well.

"You're not going to drive?"

"I thought we'd walk today."

"Okay!"

The second they were out on the street, Brady knocked the ball from his mother's grasp, placed it to the pavement, and ran ahead of her, dribbling the ball at his feet. Every now and then, he'd turned and kick the ball back to her as she moved at a much more leisurely pace, hoping to trip her up. But she always managed to take her attention back to the ball, shift it between her feet, and kick it back to him to where he would start to dribble it once more. She even, without breaking stride, brought it up to her knees and bounced the ball back and forth, then would kick it back to him.

A few times she nearly struck an innocent bystander before them, close enough of a call that it'd make her heart leap in fear that she may strike someone. But, at the last second, the ball would bend around the, making Brady race to catch it. Just as she thought it would. The amount of years that she'd thrown herself into soccer—something she and Ryder had in common-then teaching Brady how to play was still stuck in her muscle memory.

Brady turned around, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, as he passed the ball back and forth between them. "Why'd you want to take me out of school?" He asked, curiously. "You always said you'd never do that, no matter how many times I asked."

"Yeah, but you always pretended to be sick," Cadence reminded him. She shrugged. "And I always knew you weren't, but you still tried."

"Some days you let me stay home."

"Seemed like you needed a mental health day."

"Did _you _need a mental health day?" Brady asked. Cadence wondered how easy it was for him to see things he tried to hide form him, as she was able to do when he tried to hide things from her. Or maybe she focused so much on his own happiness that she didn't realize how much he focused on hers.

"I guess a little," she replied. "But I was telling the truth. There's been so much going on lately that I haven't been able to spend time with you." She kicked the ball high, making him jump for it. She neared him, giving him a teasing smile, sticking out her tongue, prompting him to stick his out in response. He cradled the ball in his hands and fell in step with her. "We used to be best friends, you know."

Brady nodded. "I know," he said quietly. Cadence smiled sadly, noticing he didn't correct her. They _used _to be best friends. They weren't, anymore.

"Then I got so busy with the wedding, and Team Flash, and Barry being gone…" she gently nudged him. "I'm sorry for that, you know. But I really do appreciate you being there for me. You've really kept me sane over these last couple of years." She paused. "You know, "I've felt alone for a very long time, even when I was around other people." He looked up at her, eyebrows coming together. "But you were one of the few things that made me feel less alone. I don't want to get too sappy—"

"—Too late," Brady interrupted.

"But you really are one of the best things to happen to me."

"I know, I know," Brady replied. Cadence couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, of if he was just growing to be more introspective as the days went on. He cringed away from her loving affections when around others, but seemed to enjoy it when they were alone. He suddenly smiled at her. "Remember when I wanted powers so badly?"

"Yeah," Cadence laughed, remembering. "You just wanted to be able to fly."

"So I could go places without having to walk." He smiled. "Now I can do that _and _phase. And a lot of other things." He continued to spin the ball in his hands, frowned. "Not at school, though."

"You weren't really supposed to be doing it at school anyway."

"I only did it when I had to."

"I know." Silence stretched between them for a bit. Good silence. Comfortable silence. She remembered what Barry had told her earlier. That he may be bored in school. "How are your classes going?"

"Alright, I guess, now that I'm there." Brady rolled his eyes. "Rose keeps reminding me of that."

Cadence's ears perked at the mention. "Oh, so this is about a girl?"

Brady's face reddened. "No!" Then he smirked at her. "Girls have cooties, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm your mom. So, my cooties are okay."

Brady laughed.

Cadence smiled, enjoying the sound. Her saunter slowed as the seconds passed. Her eyes narrowed, shifting to the faces of each person she passed, trying to determine if they were the ones that were watching her. All she received in response were friendly smiles and nods. No, the citizens of Central City—for the most part—were too happy to live among each other. Too encompassed in their own lives to pay much attention to a mother and son who were spending the day together.

Nevertheless, Cadence knew when she was being watched. Knew when she was in danger. And, more importantly, knew when her son was in danger. Cadence slowed even further down as they passed an office building. She turned her gaze to look at her reflection. Watched as her eyes shifted in distrust. She lifted her hand and started to play with her bangs, moving it from side to side. As if she cared. Her eyes moved along with the movements of her hands, looked to see if there was something that'd be moving out of ordinary. She watched the movements of everyone that passed her.

Looked or hunched shoulders—indicating wanting to hide, quick footsteps—wanting to appear rushed so that they'd get away quickly, any signs of aggressors. But the city was starting to become filled with people on their way to work, about to start their day, that she couldn't quite pinpoint on anyone. Let alone someone who may have been trying to find her.

Briefly, she wondered if it was Stratos watching her. She hadn't been in contact with him since Breathtaker's defeat, Mindboggler's death…but had the feeling that he was still around. The last time they'd met up had been at Mindboggler's grave. An unmarked, patchy area in Central City's cemetery. A good grave for her, for someone who liked to be alone, but who also commanded attention when the time came. But Stratos, like speedsters, were unable to announce their presence without some sort of wind gust to accompany them.

Amunet wasn't dub enough to try and take her down so soon, and there would've been sightings of a Samuroid even before it got close enough for it to touch her if there were one around. Whomever it was that was watching her…

_They're trying to hide, _Cadence thought.

"Mom?" She heard Brady call for her and started to turn her head. Saw him pick up the soccer ball, spinning it between his hands, when he turned back to her. His eyebrows were furrowed together in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Shh." Cadence shushed him. Then immediately felt silly. What good would it do for him to be quiet? "Come here." She motioned for him to move by her side. He did so after a second of hesitation. The second he was within distance of her touching him, something in the air changed.

She recognized it in seconds. Whether it being from her powers, feeling the very slight temperature change from the way the—bullet?—shot by her. Felt the tiny pinprick of breeze that shot just by the side of her face. Instinctively, her head jerked backwards, the second a tiny hole punched into the glass beside her head. Right where her ear would've been. It took a few seconds after for the sound of the gun shot to register. Within seconds, her body was filled with adrenaline.

While the others on the street, they started to slow down, started to look around. But didn't find what had made the sound to shatter the silence on what was to be an ordinary day. But that was the way things went, nowadays. The ordinary days, the beautiful days, they were the ones that turned to be the most horrific. The juxtaposition of the brightest blue day could be wrecked by a trail of inky black smoke of a building on fire and lives being lost. It was a bright day, fluffy white clouds that dotted the sky that day the gun shot rang out.

Cadence watched as Brady's eyes widened in surprise, hearing and recognizing the sound. For a moment, Cadence's heart broke, knowing there was no reason he should be able to recognize the sound of gun shots. Nevertheless, his head whipped around to the source of the sound, trying to pinpoint it. He turned back to his mother and reached out.

_Pow!_

Another gunshot, this time accompanied by the sound of shattering glass and screaming as a stampeded of innocent civillians tried to get away from the rapid gunfire. The plate glass in the window next to them fell in a glittery shower. Cadence looked to Brady, finding his hand placed on her arm, directly where the bullet had gone. He'd phased it through her at just the right moment.

He turned his eyes, a darkened blue, up to her. "You okay?" He breathed.

Cadence nodded back. "We can't stay here, come on." She tightened her grasp on his shoulder and started to run, dragging him behind her. She couldn't teleport, not yet. Not when there were so many people around. The pandemonium, confusion, and panic would have been a good moment as any to disappear into the crowd. But as she knew to be true lately, everyone had a phone at their disposal and any tiny hint of her powers in a video feed posted online, wasn't going to help.

And if they were being watched as closely as she thought they would, the person who'd just tried to assassinate the two of them knew they were metas and were waiting for them to use their powers.

She wouldn't give them the satisfaction; she was strong on her own.

They ran.

The second they started to move aside; rapid gunfire followed them. Cadence could hear the bullets ripping through the air, punching into the walls of the buildings behind them as they went. The realization made her feet practically grow wings and fly. Whomever was shooting at them was a good shot, really wanted them dead, and was more than likely following their movements through a scope on a high-powered rifle as far as miles away.

She could feel her body temperature increase at the sudden pressure, the palms of her hands starting to glow as she tapped into her powers. She shook them out as they continued to run, ducking behind anything they could find for cover. Finally, they ducked around the corner, slowing to a fast walk to catch their breaths.

Chaos continued to erupt around them.

Brady slowly brought his head around the side of the wall.

_Ping!_

He cried out, pulling his head back when a corner of brick shot off the wall and cracked into the air, sending the tiniest of dust clouds up. Eyes wide, Brady turned his attention back to his mother, chest heaving. He started to say something, stopped, then turned his attention to the ball in his hands. That'd deflated on one side with a bullet hole in the other.

His eyes reverted to normal size and a different look washed over him. One that, Cadence knew from experience, meant he was shifting into his 'superhero side'. There was a distinct difference between her and Flare, just as there was a difference between him and Shadowhunter.

_I should've known benching him wasn't going to last long, _Cadence thought. A small smile came to her lips, despite the chaos around them. He was so much like her that it scared her sometimes. Then her smile faded as she tuned into the air around her. Everything was still. Again. Something was off.

The gunfire stopped.

But if anyone wanted them dead, they wouldn't have stopped trying to shoot him. They would've worked at a different angle. That was the point of a scope on a rifle, anyway. And, if they were at the vantage point, then, it was more than likely, they were higher up off the street, in some sort of a tower, or a high rise…as the entire city was known for.

That was only seconds before there was the sound of something crashing into the wall behind her. She and Brady turned around in time to see what looked to be the tip of…some sort of injection needle, wobble as it embedded itself into the wall. At the same time, they ducked out of the way, rolling across the ground and came back up on their feet.

She picked it out of the wally, turning it back and forth in her hands, being careful not to let the needle point to prick her. "What the fuck?" She murmured.

There was another cracking sound before an implosion caught them off-guard. Within seconds they were in the air, flying toward the middle of the street. Cadence flipped around in mid-air and landed on the ground in a low crouch. Brady, who was closer to the attack, was knocked off his feet, landing on the hood of a car that screeched to a halt before he rolled to the ground.

The second he was back on his feet, there was a large man in front of him, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him to his feet. "Finally got you," the man said. "You meta creep."

Whether it was through fear or a sudden plan, Brady phased through his hands. The man dropped him to the ground, and Brady reared back, punching him hard in the stomach. When the man fell to his knees, he brought back his fist once more, sending a shadow ball into his face. It was that blow that knocked the man off his feet, knocking him into the side of the parked—and now abandoned—car, the same way it'd happened to Brady only moments before.

Cadence ducked away from the swinging blow that came toward the left side of her face. But was caught off-guard by the sudden, almost vicious one from the right. The punch landed on her jaw, the momentum twisting her head to the side. Saliva, not blood, filled her mouth, she spat it on the ground, and turned back to the man that'd attacked her.

It hadn't hurt, the blow she received. But surprised her so she couldn't brace for it. Her enhanced strength made it so that it was barely a glimpse to her side, but she followed the momentum of the hit to swing herself around to face him once more. She turned back around, drove her elbow into the throat of the guy in front of her. The wind got knocked out of him in a gasping wheeze, hands flying to this throat. Then she brought up her foot, quickly striking him in the face, a crane kick, that knocked him to his back.

But he recovered quickly, swinging at her again. Leaping forward, Cadence brought her legs up and wrapped them around the attacker's waist. She brought up her hands, and bent back until her palms were planted on the ground and she flipped herself back over so that the attacker was now underneath her. Lifting a foot, she placed it on the figure's stomach and leveraged herself back up to her feet before springing backwards out of the way.

Cadence took a step back and crashed straight into the wall of the building behind her. That stunned her, surprised her in not being so aware of her surroundings. So much so that when her attacker started to punch toward her again, she reacted quicker than she'd liked, after having had tried to avoid using her powers only moments before.

Cadence's hands erupted into flames and she brought her arms up in a block, shoving the attacker away from her. She twisted in a quick circle, shielding herself with the stream of fire that followed, and sent out a surge toward him. He slid underneath it and Cadence flipped forward and dropped her heel down, crashing into her attacker and forced him back to the ground.

Brady backed away from the swinging punches aimed toward his head. He pressed his lips together, suddenly disliking the fact that he was getting older. When he was younger, he was short enough that he hadn't had to dodge and weave so much. Now he had to take that into consideration when he was fighting someone, especially someone so close in height. He backed away a few times, then phased the attacker's fist through his face so that it crashed into the brick wall behind him.

Then he phased through the attacker's body while he was busy screaming in pain, he turned back aiming a high kick at the attacker's head. His face crashed into the brick wall, his scream of pain turning into a wail of outright fury and pain. He turned around and ran straight for the concrete wall. The attacker moved to safety, but Brady continued towards the concrete wall and phased into it. The immediate pressure around him was always a surprise when he phased into tough matter. But this time, it was easier for him to navigate.

He spun himself around and waited for the attacker to come close, placing his hands on the brick wall he'd just disappeared to. Darkness surrounded Brady, but he could sense it. He waited for the attacker to come closer, then phased his hand out through the wall, grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, roughly yanked him forward into the wall, and used the close proximity to inflict the most damage when he phased his other hand out to punch.

As the attacker fell backward, Brady aimed a shadow shot at his feet that propelled him out of the wall, through the attacker, and solidified himself in time to strike the attacker in the back. Seconds before he felt something clamp down around his neck, and an electric shot go through him.

"Ugh." He fell to his knees. His eyes shifted to the side, watching as his mom continued to fight. "Mom!" He cried out.

Cadence's head whipped around, at the sound of her son's cry for help. She moved to reach for him, but was stymied by a collar that was projectile launched from an spring-loaded contraption her attacker whipped out, that clamped down around her neck. The flames around her hands were immediately snuffed out.

"What?" Cadence desperately grasped against the collar around her neck. The palms of her hands illuminated by the bright blue neon light encircling it. She could hear a low hum of something inside it starting up. "What is this?"

She received no response, didn't get a second to ponder further, before a nasty kick was sent to her face.

* * *

**A/N:** Finally, we get to the point that I've hinted to at the very beginning, as well as in the summary of the story. Believe me, I couldn't wait to get to this storyline! This chapter and the next were, initially, about 15,000 words when it was one continuous chapter, so I ended up splitting them in half so that you weren't too bogged down with one super long chapter to read. That being said, I hope you liked it despite the wait.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Brady understands the seriousness of his powers, but he's still a kid. And he uses his powers when he feels like it. Though everyone else on Team Flash would be upset to know that, lol. Bonding time with the team is always good, but I haven't done it with Cade and Brady in a _long _time, compared to Flash Fire, so I hope it was enjoyable here as well. A lot of throwbacks with it. But you can also see how Brady's gotten older through it as well, which is nice, but something Cade (and I'm sure a lot of other parents) have a little struggle dealing with.


	23. The Hit List (2)

**22**

_The Hit List_

* * *

Blood spurted from Cadence's nose at the same time she heard a loud crack resounding through her head. Then came the blinding pain. Her nose was broken.

She hadn't known what it felt like to have her nose broken in a long time. To have even broken _anything _in a long time without being able to immediately heal it within seconds. It was an ability she had to learn, she could heal other people for the longest time, but not herself. Not until they'd faced a villain bad enough that she had to sever her own limb and have it regrow to defeat that threat.

The last time that she could clearly remember breaking a bone, to where it hurt her enough to be shocked into silence, was when she was dropped by her cheerleading team off a very high stunt and broke her collarbone by slamming into the ground, her hands unable to break her fall.

That hurt.

But it didn't hurt worse than the blow that smacked her right in the middle of her face. Only followed seconds later by a kick to the side of the head. Cadence fell to the ground, giving her the vantage point of seeing Brady curl himself into a ball, covering his face with his arms and hands as the men that slapped the necklaces around his neck tried to grab him. He fended them off with a few blows, working hard to stay on the ground.

Cadence felt a hand grasp onto the collar at the back of her neck, choked, tongue flying out of her mouth when she was forced backwards. She glared up at the man that stood above her. He looked back at her, shaking her back and forth with hard yanks on the collar.

"Didn't think that'd work," he remarked. "Didn't think we'd actually find you but…" he let out a low whistle. "This stuff really works, I have to get some more. I should've thought of it years ago when the Flash and those other freaks started showing up."

Cadence spat hard on the ground, closed her eyes tightly and twisted to the side. The hand that held her arm clamped down, painfully, as she worked to get away. But she continued to pull, strained against the grasp held onto her. Gritted her teeth when her shoulder started to scream in protest but continued to pull.

_Pop!_

Cadence screamed in pain but threw out her uninjured arm to keep herself from falling over. Used it as leverage to kick herself back up into the air and stick her foot out, smacking the man in the kneecap. He roared in pain and surprise, glaring as Cadence rested against the wall, holding her dislocated shoulder as she glared at the men in front of her.

"Don't touch him," She growled. Then froze at the sound of a gun being cocked. Her eyes shifted toward her son, who had stopped moving at the same time. He still curled up into a ball, but didn't dare breathe, didn't dare move.

Her eyes shifted toward the man that stood beside her son, gun trained toward him with a casual air that made her nervous. The other hand rested on his hip, drumming his fingertips. "I don't think you're in any position to talk," he said. "We're the ones who are in charge here. Go on." He gestured toward Brady with his gun. "Try to use your mojo, try to get out of those collars."

Cadence clenched her hands into fists. Her eyes bounced over their faces, wondering if they'd noticed that her flames had gone out the second that the collar was placed around her. Had noticed that she'd stopped receiving the blows that were rained upon her as easily as she usually had been able to. As far as anyone else knew, the blood that dribbled down her face and dripped off her chin was the easiest tell that she _wasn't _in fact, a meta. Everyone at least had the knowledge that most metahumans were special enough that they didn't wound as easily as others.

Maybe it'd be enough to get them to leave them alone. Case of mistaken identity and all. Maybe they thought she was Lana Lang, last thing Cadence heard, before Lana went off to Africa, was that she'd been heavily affected by some of the meteor rock like the rest of the "meteor freaks" and had to leave for her own good.

It'd be the only time in life that Cadence wouldn't mind the mistaken identity with Lana. But she knew deep in her gut from looking the men in the eyes that they knew exactly who she was. And it wasn't because of her parents or her socialite status.

"Flare and Shadowhunter," The man that held her said, a gleeful smile on his face. "Gonna make me rich."

Cadence's blood ran cold, and for someone who always radiated more than enough body heat due to her abilities, that wasn't an easy feat. She looked over at Brady, who looked back at her. His eyes were wide with fear, not because of the attack on them, but due to being called out by their names. Their superhero names that they were sure no one else knew. They'd always been careful. Cadence made sure to train him out of calling for her by the word 'mom' because of how easily it would be to link them together and put everyone in danger.

She made jokes that Captain Singh knew Barry was The Flash and she was Flare, but it was more horrifying than she thought, that there were people out there who knew the truth and…wanted to hurt them because of it.

"But why stop here?" The main man grabbed her collar once more. "Why not go all the way to the Flash? Get a bigger pay day?" He stepped closer, shook the collar back and forth. "Wanna tell me who The Flash is? We'll make sure to let your baby boy go scott free. But we'll make sure that he gets a front row seat to our windfall."

Cadence glared back at him, mentally weighing the options she had. Wondered if it was even worth trying to fight back. But it was when he grabbed her by the collar once more, yanking her head forward with how long it took for her to respond, his face went ugly. His lips twisted into a sneer and he brought his face close to hers.

"Speak, you metahuman scum!" He spat, spittle landing on her face. "Complete filth! The world would be better off without you vermin controlling everything—Aah!"

Cadence shot her head forward, opened her mouth wide, and gnashed her teeth onto her captor's nose. She held on as hard as she could, bringing her teeth together, and yanked her head back. The piece of flesh that sat in her mouth was nothing in comparison to the fountain of blood that flowed from the man's face. He screamed, shrieked, squealed in pain, brought his hands up to his face to cover what was left of his nose.

Turning her head, Cadence spat the chunk of flesh onto the ground, then whipped around, elbowing the man that held Brady captive in the throat when he moved closer to her. The gun he held clattered to the ground, close enough so that Brady could kick it out of the way. Cadence then grabbed the man by the arm, flung him around, and with a solid kick to his chest, sent him sprawling into the other man, who continued to clutch his nose.

She hurried toward Brady, grabbed his arm, and yanked him off the ground. Grasping his wrist, she pulled them out of the alleyway and back onto the street. The street that had become busy as the morning went on, busy enough so that it was hard miss a young woman and young boy come flying out, covered in blood and with collars around their necks.

The police were called within seconds.

Not that it mattered much, Cadence couldn't teleport anyway.

* * *

Barry, Joe, and Captain Singh hadn't been in Captain Singh's office for long when he got the call that he was needed at the hospital. He'd arrived late, of course, sheepishly entering the room with a matching smile when he eased open the door.

Captain Singh leaned back in his seat and said a sarcastic, "Good Morning" to Barry that not even he could ignore. Then the Captain brought his hand up to look at his watch, despite the time being displayed clearly on the corner of his computer screen, and said, "Ten minutes late. You know, that's amazing considering you know exactly where my office is and how to get here every day."

"'I know," Barry said quickly. He slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. "But, I, uh, stopped for some doughnuts on the way in." He brandished the bag as he stepped into the room. "I thought I would—"

"—Soften the blow of your continuous tardiness?"

"Uh…yeah, that."

Captain Singh pursed his lips, tapping his finger on his desk top. "I guess there is something to the stereotype," he admitted then lifted his hand, wiggling his fingers. "Come on, bring it here." Joe started to laugh quietly while Barry gave a sigh of relief. "You better have brought me the jelly filled."

"Of course, sir. I know which one you like." Barry cleared his throat, exchanging a glance with Joe when he sat in the only other empty seat in front of Captain Singh's desk.

Joe continued to chuckle to himself. "Aren't you supposed to be on a diet?" He laughed harder when Captain Singh glared at him over the top of the bag he eagerly unrolled. "Come on."

"Whatever Robert doesn't know won't hurt me," Captain Singh replied. "And let me tell you, this diet that he's got e on his hurting me." He took a bite of doughnut, licked Jelly off his thumb, then turned to Barry. "Anyway, I really hope it was just the doughnuts that made you late, Flash." Barry's eyes widened in response. "I'm calling you that form now on, cause you're so perpetually late."

Joe noticed the way Barry stared at their boss and chuckled quietly. "It's better than Baby Face," he pointed out.

"Not by much," Barry replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He cleared his throat. "So, uh, what did you need to see us for?" He then noticed Captain Singh's sharp glare and rephrased his question to be less…bumbling. "I mean, you were very insistent that we see you today."

"Right, well, it has to do with the metahuman task force," Captain Singh replied. He changed his tone to be more professional, lacing his fingers together. "And whether or not it is something that you feel we should increase the presence of within the city." He motioned to Barry. "I know this is something that's more in your wheelhouse, you were the one who had been gallivanting all over the place trying to explain the unexplained." He paused. "Did you ever find what you were looking for when you went off to Star City?"

Barry forced himself to smile nervously. Partially, anyway. Another part of him gave a genuine smile. He'd found what he was looking for and more; a life that he didn't know he'd ever have. With powers that were far greater than he thought were possible for any man or woman to exhibit. "Oh, uh, yeah, I found it."

"I bet that doesn't compare to some of the things we've seen here in the past couple of years. Sentient gorillas, a sort of portal that appears in the sky…" Captain Singh shook his head. "And there seem to be more and more metahumans that appear as the days go by. But thank God for the Flash and Flare." Barry and Joe exchanged another glance. "But that's what I wanted you here for. As I said, there's a lot of metas that have been coming up lately and I'm wondering how you feel the effectiveness of the metahuman task force is going."

Joe shifted in his seat, eyebrows crinkling. "Well, sir, with the help of Flash, Flare, and the team of scientists that help them, I think that the task force can only improve," he said. "We've had a good success rate of taking down metahuman criminals along with the regular criminals we take down in a day."

"Yes, but without Detective Spivot…" Captain Singh trailed off, lowering his head. Barry pressed his lips together an did the same. He hadn't thought about Patty in a long time. It seemed like another life where he'd been dating her, when he and Cadence weren't together, when she was so eager to help Joe with the task force because of her personal issues with metas herself. She was a great friend…and it was horrific how easily Zoom had taken her down.

One second she was alive and the next her neck had been snapped along with the rest of the fallen CCPD members that had gone into Jitters that day. Around the same time his back had been broken.

"Without Detective Spivot, I can't help but wonder if you're starting to wear yourself too thin," Captain Singh said once he regained his composure. "There are more and more metahumans popping up by the day and there's only so many of them that will be using their powers for evil that we can handle."

"With all due respect, sir, I think we've been handling them just fine," Joe said gruffly. Barry nodded in agreement. He didn't have to say anything about all the work Team Flash was doing. They hadn't dropped anyone in the Pipeline for a long time, but they'd transferred numerous people to Iron Heights. Almost daily and mostly was the reason he was late for work. "The Flash and his team really are beacons of hope for the city, we're just working along with them."

"And I agree with you," Captain Singh said quickly. He ruffled through the bag of doughnuts and picked out another, examining it for a moment before taking a bite. "You've been doing nothing but great things here, Joe. But we have to address the elephant in the room." He turned his gaze to Barry.

Barry held his breath. Waited. Was this it? Was this when Captain Singh confronted him, asked him if he was the Flash? _No, that wouldn't be his speed, _Barry reminded himself. _He'd tell me that he figured it out, dangle it like a carrot in front of me until I have no choice but to confess. _Sweat started to collect under his fingertips, Barry yanked his collar away from his neck, suddenly feeling very warm.

"With all the new metahumans, we have to think of their safety with those that are…" his gaze turned toward the ceiling in thought. "Very _vocal _about how much they don't want metahumans in the city. Now, I can't do anything about Lex's presence here in the city, I can grant permits for large gatherings and shut things down if they become too frenzied, but I can't ban him from the city unless he poses some sort of threat."

"You think his dislike for metahumans and the want to put forward a Registration Act isn't a threat?" Barry asked. Joe murmured his name in a warning tone. But Barry waved him off. He couldn't keep the emotions from within him bubbling up as the MRA was mentioned, as it always did when his life was put in jeopardy. As much as those that decided to turn to a life of crime with their powers bothered him, they were still people and they still had rights.

_Would you say the same if it were Thawne, or Zoom, or me who were threatened to have our livelihoods taken away? _Savitar's voice swirled through Barry's head. Barry waved him off.

"Whatever my personal feelings about the matter are, my priority, first and foremost, is to make sure everyone in this city feels protected," Captain Singh said. "Which is why we were quick to hire as many people as we could to make up for—" he cleared his throat, using the time to wipe off his fingers—"to make up for those that we've lost along the way. If you feel that the task force is something we need to keep going—"

"—Captain Singh, if we don't continue to use the task force, to make sure that everyone in the city has a chance to rehabilitate themselves, even those _with _powers, then we'd just be failing the city." Barry tried not to smile when he said the words made famous by the Green Arrow. "We can't set them free just like we can't…_murder _them all because we could. Can't cast them out like they're on _Survivor _or something." He ran a hand through his hair, started to fidget with his fingers. His knee bounced up and down. "Without the Flash and his team…tensions would be higher. The city wouldn't look the same. It'd be filled with distrust and fear…"

"I have to agree with him," Joe jumped in. He crossed his legs the other way. "I'm not saying I don't get tired every now and then, with all the work I have to do with the metas on top of my other cases but…" he searched for the words, spreading his hand. "A job's a job. And it's my job to make sure we get the bad metahumans off the street and offer them the chance to be rehabilitated, just like everyone else."

"I'm not attacking you, Joe. I'm just asking so I know how to move forward. There's been a different surprise just about every year since the Particle—"

"—Accelerator," Barry and Joe supplied.

"—Right, since the Particle Accelerator went off and I'm trying to do _my _job to keep everyone safe. I've got Chief Paulson breathing down my neck, wanting me to put in more extensive measures against metahumans, but I can't do that because part of me remembers that these people didn't ask for their powers, for their lives to be changed. They're still my people and I still need to help them. So I have to ask some hard questions."

"And if you decided to dissolve the metahuman task force," Barry started. "What would happen then?"

Captain Singh opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a light, timid knocking at the door. All three men looked over as the knock happened once more, before the doorknob slowly rotated down. The door was pushed open and Jordan ducked her head in. She waved, eyes bouncing over the men in the room before landing on Captain Singh. Then they lowered, as if unable to hold eye contact for a few moments.

Barry felt himself smile a little. Did he used to act like that when he was first around the police captain _You still act like that now, _Savitar replied. Again, Barry waved him off. Then he noticed Jordan staring at him. "Is everything okay?" He asked her.

"Mr. Allen," Jordan said, then backtracked, blinking rapidly. "Barry." She frowned, clearly wondering if I was too familiar to speak to her superior in such a friendly way when she didn't know him personally. She started to wring her hands together. "M—Mr. Barry—Allen—"

Captain Singh sighed, running a hand over his face. "Out with it, Ms. Walker."

Jordan jumped and nodded. "Um, well, you've got an urgent call that you need to go the hospital," she explained.

Barry's heart dropped to his stomach with a sickening thud. He looked to Joe, who looked back at him in concern. A million questions ran through his head. Did something happen to his friends? To Caitlin? Cisco? Jesse? Harry? To his family? Iris? Cadence? Wally? Brady? "What…what happened?" He asked. "Is everyone okay?"

"Um, the doctor said that you need to get to your fiancée and your son,"—Barry didn't have the urge to correct her in calling Brady his son, he could only focus on his hands tightening their grasp on the arms of his chair—"That they were jumped…"

Barry was out of his seat in seconds. Second away from tapping into the Speed Force and blasting out of the office. Joe, seeming to know what Barry was thinking, rose and grasped Barry on the shoulder. He turned to Captain Singh saying, "Sir, I'll take him to the hospital, I don't think he's in any condition to go himself."

"No, no, please go," Captain Singh agreed. His eyebrows were pinched in concern. And, it looked like to Barry, that he was only moments away from going to the hospital himself. "Please let me know what's going on and how we can help. You know the CCPD is like family."

"Of course, sir, we'll let you know as soon as possible." Joe grabbed Barry by the shoulders. "Come on, son."

Barry nodded mutely, allowing himself to be pulled from the room. His breath caught in his chest. The same way it had in the days leading up to his mother's funeral. He somewhat remembered seeing her in a room for the final time. Not in the church, not in her casket, but it wasn't in a hospital either. Wasn't his house. He remembered seeing her at his house, remembered running all the way back from…wherever he was taken, and seeing her on the floor.

He remembered shouting for her, time and time again. "Mom," repeatedly and with increasing tension and fear until he was grabbed by the shoulders and pulled away. She never said anything in response. Only stared at the ceiling with glassy eyes and a fearful expression frozen on her face. With a tear the rolled down her cheek, slowly drying as the seconds passed.

His heart hammered against his chest when he saw her, willed for her to wake up. But he was equally numb when he heard the news, when he was told she was dead. Intuitively, he knew she was dead. She was as stiff as a board and wouldn't respond to his repeated called when, usually, she was there before he even knew he needed her.

He remembered seeing her again, in the funeral home. Somehow, they'd managed to make it so that she looked peaceful, not scared. That she looked like she was just sleeping, not having had been murdered with a shot to the heart with no natural origin. Made her look like she was ready to spring up and scare him half to death before bursting out into hysterical laughter at being able to tease him so well.

He went through that along, his father in prison, her family not being able to say goodbye to a woman they'd loved as a daughter, sister, cousin, niece. His fathers' family unable to say goodbye due to the backlash of what Henry Allen may have done to his beloved wife. There wasn't a big turnout; the Wests were there to help him, some of the people from Henry's office were there, but kept their eyes away. Barry could hardly remember who it was.

All he could remember was how much he shook, how much he wanted to bring his mother back. How much he wanted to bring his father back. How much he couldn't handle the thought of being alone. And that was the most sickening revelation for him. That he was going to be alone. It was what drove him to desperately cling to the idea that his father was innocent and that he could convince people of it. It's what made him continue to run to Iron Heights to be with his dad.

The warden and the CO's that worked there took pity on him at first. They allowed him to see his dad as often as he wanted, they didn't give too much of a sideways look at him when he skipped school. But, eventually, enough was enough and he had to move on.

And he thought he had, until he got the message that something had happened to his family. Where everything in his life came to a grinding halt and he wasn't sure what he was going to arrive to. The one point that kept him from completely losing it was knowing of their enhanced abilities keeping them alive. Sure, there was the vicious thoughts that worried him; maybe Breathtaker wasn't dead and had tracked them down, that the Reverse-Flash…Thawne had done something to them, that there was a new villain waiting to reveal themselves to take them down and used them to get to him, but he forced himself to focus on the good thing.

They were alive.

They were alive.

They were alive.

Barry continued to allow the words to run through his head as he sat in the passenger seat of Joe's car and they flew through traffic with Joe's reds and blues flashing as they went.

"I'm sure everything okay, Bare," Joe said gently. "If it was anything else…" he didn't finish his sentence.

But Barry knew what eh was going to say. "Yeah," Barry agreed. "I know." If something had happened, if one of them were gravely injured, or dead…he would've known the second he stepped out the door of Captain Singh's office. The police force knew just about everyone who worked in the hospitals of Central City, it came with the territory of how many calls they all worked on together. They were supposed to 'leave things at the door' when they helped rescue people. But that wasn't how Central City worked. They were a community and had each other's best interest at heart.

Finally, Joe pulled up at the hospital and Barry pushed open the door of the cruiser, nearly clipping an orderly who was going to work. Barry lifted his hand in apology and hurried into the hospital. He looked over the list that told what floor of the hospital was for what ailment, he raced to the front desk and started to babble.

"Hi, yes, my, uh, my fiancée and my son, well, my step-son—" he shook his head. "—He's not my step-son _yet, _but my son, and her, they were brought here, they said something happened, they were attacked. Are they okay? Can I see them? What happened? Do…do you know how bad it is?"

The poor receptionist looked a him with wide eye.

Joe walked up behind Barry and placed his hand on his shoulder. All at once, Barry felt himself relax from the touch alone. Yet, he still gripped the side of the desk, waiting for a response. Joe flashed his badge to the receptionist and said, "Detective Joe West, this is CSI Barry Allen. His fiancée, Cadence Nash, and her son, Brady, were brought here recently, saying they were mugged. Where can we find them?"

"Right, yes." The receptionist nodded, lowered her head, and started to tap away at her computer, bringing up the information. "Cadence and Brady Nash were brought in a half hour ago. They're in room 250 with Dr. Bloom."

"Thank you."

The two hurried to the room. Barry all but broke into a run, skidded to a stop when he saw the room in question. He went inside and found Cadence sitting on an examining table, her head turned to the side as stitches were put in her forehead. Her face was swollen, her eyes were black, despite blood being cleaned away, there was a light red hue of the blood that streaked her chin, her nose was covered in plaster, but she was alive. Brady stood to her side, watching his mother get cleaned up, a bruise at the bottom of his jaw.

He didn't look worse for the wear, but still hovered by his mother's side, watching the doctor closely. He looked over when Barry arrived in the doorway, his eyes lighting up. "Barry!" He moved from his mother's side and went to Barry, wrapping his arms around the speedster's waist.

He still had the collar around his neck.

Barry hugged him back, examining his face. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm."

"What happened?" Barry then moved to Cadence's side, grasping her hand. He wanted to give her a kiss out of relief but didn't know if he could do it without hurting her even further. She even winced when he brushed her shoulder. That worried him even further, he'd seen her take on a punch from a gorilla without flinching, and he barely grazed her shoulder.

"It seems that they were mugged, Mr. Allen," Dr. Bloom said with a light shake of her head. She looked toward Barry then back to Cadence. "They were both lucky that this one knows how to defend herself. Then again, I've already known what she would do when Brady's in danger." Barry looked at her, then at Cadence. "I'm Corrine," Dr. Bloom explained.

Barry thought for a moment. Corrine Bloom? Then he looked at Cadence and his eyes widened, understanding. Corrine Bloom. Wife of Michael Bloom who had been brainwashed into working with the Assassination Bureau. Mother of Hailey Bloom—now known as White Hot. Cadence nodded in response.

Yes, _that _Corinne Bloom.

"It's nice to meet you, Barry, I've heard a lot about you." She then nodded to Joe. "Detective," she added. "Is this an open case?"

"That depends." Joe eyed the collar around their necks. "is there anything you need to tell me?"

"'Just that this isn't the first time that we've seen something like this happen," Dr. Bloom replied. She sighed quietly. "Attacks have been on the rise around the city, innocent people, metahumans…I've seen more mugging victims come in recently than I have within the last year." She bobbed her head back and forth. "But I don't know how many times I've seen these new accessories on the victims."

Barry squeezed Cadence's hand. She squeezed his hand back. His smile faded. Something was wrong. He didn't feel anything. No sparks, no tingling, no nothing to prove that their powers were in synch. His eyebrows furrowed. Cadence noticed and lowered her gaze.

"I'll have to get those things off, see what we're working with," Dr. Bloom said. "I'd hate to think this may be holding a broken neck." She turned her back to the group, turning her attention to the tray of tools at her disposal.

When her back was turned, Cadence shot out her hand and grabbed Barry's wrist, digging her nails into his skin. Even without her enhanced strength, she was able to pull him close enough to her so that he could hear her clearly. Her eyes darted toward Corinne then back to Barry as she hissed, "If they get this off me, I'm going to start healing."

Barry's eyes searched her face, trying to take in what she was saying. "What?"

"It's a meta dampener."

Barry nodded. He looked to Joe, who nodded back. Joe cleared his throat. "Dr. Bloom, I don't think you should be tampering with the collars on them. It may be evidence."

Dr. Bloom looked at him curiously. "Evidence of what? I know there's some sick people out there, Detective, and knowing the nature of Cadence's job to help those that are abused and neglected, but even I don't think this is going to be some sort of BDSM kink." Her voice was dry though it was clear she was joking, her eyes were serious.

"Evidence of a crime," Joe insisted. "A crime has been committed here. Assault. And not just on Cadence, but on Brady as well. There may be fingerprints or other sorts of DNA left on the collar that will tie it to those responsible."

"I need to take care of my patient."

"I need to take care of my crime scene."

"I'll let you two argue about the semantics of who is in the right here, but I'm going to take her to STAR Labs." All eyes turned toward Harrison, who leaned casually against the doorframe, watching them all inside. "We have the means to ensure what that collar truly can do, what it's made from, how it works, where the materials were gathered so that we can get a clear picture of who's to blame for this." He pushed himself up off the doorframe and lifted his hand, rubbing his thumb over his fingers. "I don't think the police or the hospital has that sort of technology."

Dr. Bloom turned her attention to Harrison. "Sir, with STAR Labs out of commission, I don't think that's—"

"—Whether or not you consider STAR Labs to be out of commission is not the point of conversation that we're having," Harrison interrupted. He pushed off the doorframe and stuck his hands into the pockets of his slacks, not before pushing his glasses up his nose. "Dr. Bloom, I can assure you that we wouldn't have bene able to look after Mr. Allen here as well as we had a few years back without the machinery that we had at STAR Labs and, again, with all due respect, I'm not going to allow anyone to tell me what I will and won't do with my daughter. Especially when the fact of the matter is that the things that we've come up with at STAR Labs has been more groundbreaking in terms of the recovery we've managed to achieve at a more rudimentary level at this hospital."

A silence stretched around the room.

Dr. Bloom sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "I'll have them discharged soon."

Harrison smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

Caitlin hummed as she looked over the collars hanging around Cadence's and Brady's necks. She looked to Cisco, who hummed, lifted his gaze, and met hers. He gently shook his head and the two stepped back. "I'm not quite sure what this thing is made of, but if it truly is a meta dampener, then it's some of the best material we've ever come across."

"Does that mean you can't take it off?" Jesse asked, anxiously standing by her Earth-1 sister's side. "If any of the rest of us get trapped in that stuff we won't have our powers?"

"No, it just means that we're back at square one when it comes to anything that we may have thought we'd known before," Cisco said dryly.

Caitlin rolled her eyes and leaned over, picking up the drill that sat on the computer desk of the Cortex. Cisco picked up his own and the two power drills turned on with a press of a button on the side. The Cortex was filled with a grinding sound as the drills went to work, eating away at the collars that held firm around Cadence's and Brady's necks.

Brady flinched away, every few seconds the sparks coming close to his face. Cadence, on the other hand, held her hair out of harm's way and leaned her head to the side, eyes narrowing when there was a particularly bright flash of sparks. Caitlin held her gently, pushing the drill forward as the seconds passed.

"Are you okay?" She asked Cadence as the seconds passed.

"Mhm." But she didn't nod, didn't acknowledge her in any other capacity.

"Don't worry," Caitlin said soothingly. "I'll try not to hurt you."

"There's not many other people I'd trust to do this."

For a moment, Caitlin paused at the revelation. The sparks stopped flying. She studied the side of Cadence's face. Her puffy, swollen face. The Firestarter continued to stare straight ahead, but otherwise didn't respond. Caitlin was touched by her words, but also knew it probably wouldn't last. There was a reality hanging over their heads that may become _their _reality in short order.

Killer Frost was going to die, Flare was going to kill her, and…Caitlin may have to take the fall if that time ever came.

_But right now, you're Caitlin, _Caitlin told herself, resuming her drilling. _Right now, you're trying to save your friend. _Caitlin continued to push forward until she felt less resistance against her drill. The collar snapped off and Caitlin stepped back. Within seconds, Cadence's eyes were alit with fire, the swelling and bruises on her face healed until it appeared, she'd never been hit at all. The stitches placed in her forehead dissolved along with the healing, a very faint scar remained, covered by her hair.

There was another snapping sound and Brady's collar fell off, Cadence immediately swooped onto her son, pressing her hands to her face to heal him as well.

For a few moments, no one spoke. Until Harrison picked up the pieces of collar and examined them. He let out a low whistle and said, "Nice craftsmanship."

"We've got people out there with meta dampeners and you're applauding them?" Wally asked incredulously.

Harrison ignored him and walked to the medical bay, putting the metallic pieces inside. Then he turned to Cadence and asked, "What happened?"

"We were minding our own business, heading out to Jitters for some breakfast," she said it in a low monotone, still staring straight ahead. "And I felt that something was wrong. Sensed it. Then someone shot at us."

''Someone shot at you?" Jesse asked, her eyes widening at the realization.

Wally snorted. "Who would be dumb enough to do that?"

Barry sighed heavily, ignoring Wally's comment. "It's not the first time it's happened. Not long after I got back from the Speed Force, Cade and I were talking…and someone tired to shoot us then, too. They almost got an innocent couple behind us."

"So…" Caitlin swallowed hard, pushing her emotions aside. "They're really after you guys."

"I guess."

"But why?"

"They know our identities," Brady pointed out. He motioned between his mother and himself. "They called us by name. _Knew _we were Shadowhunter and Flare. They must've known we were metas before they put the collars on us, to give themselves an even playing field."

"Okay, but what if they were wrong?" Wally asked. "What if they put the collars on the wrong people?"

"That doesn't matter to them," Joe pointed out. "All they cared about was…getting what they wanted. If they're anti-meta, they wanted to get rid of the metahumans. And, to them, that was the bet way to make sure they'd succeed."

"Does that mean they know about the rest of us?" Jesse asked.

Harrison shrugged. "We can't know for sure." He lifted his chin, addressing everyone in the room. "I've got Tess keeping an eye out. News has spread fast that a young woman has been attacked. Mayor Bellows will have to make a statement soon. Things like this can't be ignored."

"A press conference is already in place," Barry agreed. "Iris is on her way to see if she can figure anything out." He continued to stand nearby Cadence and Brady. Trying, Caitlin could see, to catch their eyes. But they continued to look away from him. True to Barry's form, he didn't let that deter his love for his family.

"So what are we going to do?" Caitlin asked. "The CCPD already know…well, have an _idea _that I'm Killer Frost." She shuddered, remembering all the things she'd done when she couldn't control the frosty side of her. How she'd tried to attack her mother, so many people…" And now they know about Cade and Brady? It's not long until all of us, all of STAR Labs is found out."

"Ugh, I was hoping you were past this point of conversation," Harry drawled as he speed walked into the Cortex.

Cisco scowled at him, turning away for the computer that he'd plopped himself behind when he finished sawing off the collar. "Where have you been?" He demanded. "We're here, as a team, like we're supposed to be, and you're off doing…" he gestured vaguely. "God knows what!"

"Yes, I'm spending all my time scouring the internet for the best recipes for Avocado toast," Harry said sarcastically. "Not!" Cisco rolled his eyes. "While you all have been sitting in your feelings, and you 'what if's and 'maybes' I've been trying to figure out who may be behind them." He roughly pushed Cisco out of the way and commandeered his computer. His fingers flew over the keys. "And, this is what I found."

He swiped his hand, moving the projecting to the TV mounted on the wall across the computer desk.

A long list.

Of names.

Of all the people they'd ever known to be a metahuman.

REVERSE-FLASH…XXX

THE FLASH…700,000,000

FLARE….700,000,000

STRATOS…600,000,000

FIRESTORM…500,00,000

WHITE HOT…20,000,000

KILLER FROST…..10,000,000

VIBE…..7,000,000

SHADOWHUNTER….500,000

JESSE QUICK…50,000

KID FLASH…..50,000

GEO….10,000

Caitlin sucked in a sharp breath, seeing Firestorm written up there. Because…as far as she knew, the Firestorm they were after was with the Legends. But deep in her heart…her soul…she knew it was Ronnie they were looking for. Cadence had once said that she hadn't detected Ronnie's signature going out after the Singularity…but Caitlin had refused to give herself hope.

Until seeing his name again.

Pain flooded through her chest and she turned away.

"There's money after everyone's names," Joe remarked.

"It's like a hit list," Wally murmured.

"And all our names are up there," Jesse said. She shook her head. "Someone out there, wants us all dead and wants the money for it."

"The question is, who?" Barry said.

* * *

**A/N:** It took me too long to get this second half of the long chapter up and I apologize. I re-edited a lot of it and changed some things around for the emotional impact as well as the impact with the MRA and, eventually, the plot with the Thinker.

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	24. Strength in Numbers

**23**

_Strength in Numbers_

* * *

Caitlin brushed her hair back from her face as she stood in the elevator, getting used to that feeling of being risen to the Cortex. She's taken that same elevator ride many times before but couldn't shake the nerves that came. She shook out her hands—pausing briefly when she saw the light blue sheen that came to her nails, almost icy, then folded her arms.

It was like the first day of school more, she'd been back to the Cortex enough times since being officially being brought back to Team Flash. And even then, that was the worst part of school, if she were honest. The first day, the not knowing what to expect. Had anyone told her that she'd still feel that way in her twenties, she would've laughed. STAR Labs was supposed to be her home and had been her home for as long as she could remember, but now…

Too much time had passed.

_Not too much, _Caitlin reminded herself. _They allowed you back into STAR Labs, onto Team Flash, no matter what happened. They've gotten over the Killer Frost stuff, now you need to, too. _With that, she rolled back her shoulders and strolled confidently out of the elevator whose doors finally opened, letting her free.

She walked toward the Cortex, her smile widening as the seconds passed. Felt her worries melt away. Knew that they'd be able to start a 'new normal' for the team and what was going to happen in the future…save for the metahuman hit list that apparently was going around. But that wasn't anything they couldn't figure out together. They were a team and—

"Oh!"

The noise of surprise escaped her lips before she could stop it. Before she could do what her brain wanted her to do, to turn on her heel and leave the Cortex for her office in long, quick strides. Instead, her feet were frozen—she wondered if she'd tapped into her own powers or if it was just wishful thinking. But it was always hard to work her way out of awkward situations.

And nothing was more awkward than seeing Cisco sitting atop of the desk in the Cortex blissfully unaware of anyone who could've walked in on him kissing Gypsy. The sound of her cry broke them apart, making Gypsy looked at Caitlin with a mildly embarrassed smile, wiping off her lips with the back of her hand, while Cisco continued to smile dreamily.

"I'm just…going to leave you alone," Caitlin said quickly, backing away from the Cortex, pointing over her shoulder. "I have some stuff I need to do in my office, anyway. Go ahead, go…back to what you were doing."

"No, need, I'm leaving anyway," Gypsy said. She reached out her right hand, punching toward the side, where a breach immediately opened. "Say 'hi' to the others for me, okay?" She leapt through the breach, the swirling vortex closing behind her as she did so.

Caitlin turned back to Cisco, opened her mouth, closed it, then folded her arms. She cleared her throat, allowing Cisco to try—and try was the keyword there—to make himself look presentable. He brought his hair over his shoulders, rapidly finger combing it as he did so. Caitlin turned her gaze to the floor, practically screaming at herself to move her feet, to get out of there. To go do something, _anything _else than realize how awkward she felt.

Weirdly awkward.

"So, you and Gypsy, huh?" Caitlin kept her eyes down, but the corners of her lips turned up as she finally found her voice. "Can't say I didn't see that coming. You were really into her before." Cisco gave her a funny look, finally snapping out of his dreamlike state. He opened his mouth then closed it again, quickly looking away from her. She saw the look in his eye, the hesitant one. Knew what he wanted to ask without saying it out loud. "I saw the way you were with Gypsy before I went full Killer Frost on you guys, you know."

"I know."

"Okay."

"So…?"

"So?"

Cisco tilted his head back and let out a long sigh toward the ceiling. "I hate this," he said. Caitlin shrugged, dropping down into her desk chair. She turned to her computer and typed in her password before bringing up the desktop of every STAR Labs computer, the logo that pun quietly across the screen. A light sigh escaped her lips; she remembered how things used to be, when she first started up at STAR Labs. When things were fresh and new, when the sky was the limit for STAR Labs.

And now…everyone she knew and loved had a bounty over their heads.

Cisco continued speaking, as if Caitlin had asked for him to continue. "I hate that we can never catch a break, you know. One minute we're fling high like Superman and the next thing we know; we're hit by the biggest wad of Kryptonite anyone's ever seen."

"So is the Kryptonite Gypsy or…?" She smiled, seeing the flush that came to Cisco's cheeks. Glad that the conversation topic was able to changed as easily as she thought it would be. A lot of time away from Cisco and she could still read him like a book. It was refreshing, really. Safer. Made her feel like it was one of the few things that didn't have to have changed while she was out of the way, trying to find herself.

_Find yourself? _Caitlin snorted quietly. _More like, trying to find ways to keep your true self out. _She ran a hand through her hair, waiting for Cisco's response. It came a little late, betraying his insecurities that he, otherwise, tried to hide. How many times had she sat back and listened as Cisco went on and on about what he was doing with Kendra and whether things were moving in a positive direction?

Nevertheless, she waited for his response, was surprised to find him lower his gaze from hers.

"Yeah, uh, I don't really know how that happened," Cisco said, sounding a bit confused as he spoke. He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back oh his head. "I mean, who would've thought someone I liked would've actually liked me back, huh?" He dropped his hands to his lap, shrugged. "Even an interdimensional breacher?"

Caitlin lifted her gaze and smiled teasingly at him. "I thought you were _connected?" _Her words dripped with sugary sweetness that nearly made her teeth rot. "That _because _you're a breacher, you're able to tell things about each other."

Cisco bobbed his head back and forth. "But there's a difference between that connection and what you and I have." He placed his hand on his chest. "What we have is eternal and nothing's going to come between that." He shared her smile before it faded. "You know, so long as this metahuman hit list doesn't take us down one by one."

With a shake of her head, Caitlin asked, "Are you sure that you're not just mad that you're only going for seven million dollars?" She tapped her pen to her lips. "That's still a lot. If Bruce Wayne hadn't given us that grant for research, I would've thought of taking you out myself."

"That's tough talk for the ten mill, Miss. Killer Frost," Cisco shot back. Caitlin's smile quickly faded and she lowered her head back over her notebook. She cleared her throat and looked to the side, eyebrows twitching. The room went cold, thought Caitlin wasn't sure if it was just because of the tension between them or if it were because of her powers. She dropped her hands to her lap, looking at them to be sure it wasn't the latter. Focused on anything else. "Has that been a problem? Since you've been back, I mean."

"No."

"Because, if you're going to be part of the team again, I'd like to know whether or not I still have my personal snow cone machine at my disposal."

"I said its not a problem!" Caitlin snapped, lifting her head to glare at him. He brought his hands up, palms out, blinking rapidly. He made a show of taking a step back. Immediately, Caitlin bit her lower lip. "I'm—I'm sorry, Cisco. It's just…being back here…it's so normal. But I keep expecting everything to fall apart, you know? Like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. And that's not to say how long Barry was gone and the new team dynamics and…" She waved her hand. "Now this hit list and this enemy that we don't know about."

"See what I mean?" He gently jostled her arm. "Kryptonite. Next thing we know, we're going to hit the ground twitching."

"And to think, I thought things would be weird when I came back," Caitlin mused. "Different."

"What do you mean?"

Finally, Caitlin turned and looked him in the eye, crossing her legs at the knee. "I mean, coming back and having you guys welcome me," she said. "You don't know if things are going to change, if I'm going to go all Frost on you guys and take you down one by one? How do you know _I _didn't come up with the list and I'm just waiting for you to lower your guards and give me the opportunity to take you all down?"

"You're not going to do that, Cait."

"I tried to kill you all before."

"Yeah, but that was when you…"

Caitlin leaped onto his unfinished sentence. "When I what?" She demanded, eyes flashing. "When I couldn't control my powers? When I was blindly following Savitar because he made sense to me? When I—"

'—When you were Killer Frost, you weren't _you_," Cisco interrupted. "You weren't Caitlin, you were Killer Frost. You were fighting back for control of yourself." Caitlin pressed her lips together. "I saw it, Cait. I vibed you, I saw it in your head. You, in your subconscious, were fighting back against Killer Frost and you were winning. That's how you came back."

_No, I came back because I was injected in the neck with a cure that I didn't get the chance to say whether I wanted it, _Caitlin wanted to say. But didn't. Didn't want to open that can of worms once more. Especially knowing that it'd changed when the Hit List came to their subconscious.

"Well, that's exactly why we're going to figure out who's behind the Hit List." Caitlin and Cisco turned to see Harry leaning against the doorframe of the Cortex, rubbing the lenses of his glasses against the bottom of his shirt.

Cisco rolled his eyes. "If we knew that, I don't think we'd just be sitting here." Harry mimicked his words in a high-pitched voice, coming closer to the pair of friends. "I don't sound like that!" Cisco defended himself, only for it to fall on death ears.

"I don't mean find out who has made the Hit List, that could be anyone with all the money in the world," Harry pointed out. "Politicians. Royalty. Bored housewives with their husband's fortune at their fingertips, it's not just those that are evil that find entertainment in the more sinister ideals of the world." He lowered his chin. "Take that Luthor fellow for example."

"You really think a desperate housewife is throwing her money to end the lives of metahumans?"

"It's not so strange of an idea."

"How do you figure?"

"Wasn't Cadence doing the same thing when she was part of the Assassination Bureau?"

Silence stretched through the Cortex.

That was different.

Wasn't it?

Caitlin didn't know for sure, after all, she was the one who practically contracted her former best friend into killing her if Killer Frost managed to make her way out again.

* * *

"Master Bruce has been expecting you," Alfred Pennyworth said as he closed the door behind Barry and Cadence. He reached out his hands for their coats. "He and the rest of his guests are in the parlor."

"Oh, no worries, man," Barry said with a grin. He turned his grin to Cadence, who rolled her eyes, then turned back to Alfred. "Watch this!" Cadence turned her gaze to her empty wrist, as if looking at a watch. Alfred lifting an eyebrow. In a flash of lightning, Barry whizzed himself and Cadence in a circle, taking off their jackets and zoomed them into a nearby closet before screeching to a halt back to where he stood before. He spread his arms, waiting for Alfred's amazed reaction.

Instead, Alfred's face remained frozen, his eyebrow still raised. "And I thought Batman was the show off," he drawled, making Cadence bring her hand up to cover her mouth, trying and failing to cover her laughter.

Barry's arms slumped to his sides. He gently kicked at the ground, then looked to fiancée. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw her laughter and he gave her his puppy dog look. "Really?" He asked.

"I'm sorry," Cadence said, still laughing. "But you were asking for it."

"This way, please." Alfred turned on his heel and led the two away from the spacious front hall toward the parlor room. Their footsteps echoed along the corridor as they went, bouncing off the walls and coming back to them in seconds. Finally, after Barry thought the hallway would never end, they arrived at the parlor. Alfred pushed the doors open and stepped aside, holding out his arm. "Master Bruce, the final of your guests have arrived."

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce replied, turning from the window that overlooked the courtyard. He walked to meet him at the door. "That will be all for now."

"Oh really?" Alfred's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I guess I hadn't noticed that everyone you'd sent away for had arrived." He left the parlor with a call over his shoulder, "Just let me know if you need me. But _please _only let it be if you _really _need me."

Bruce picked up two glasses of champagne that sat on the nearby table and walked it to Barry and Cadence. Barry took it from Bruce with a grateful smile, taking a sip. "Thanks," he said to Bruce. "It's good I can't get drunk off this, at least I can enjoy it," he said.

"If you like it, I can make it your wedding gift to you," Bruce remarked with a light smile. "Best year you can get and there's plenty to go around."

"You're a billionaire and your wedding gift is going to be champagne?" Cadence asked, her eyebrows coming together.

"No, I'm paying for the catering at reception," Bruce said calmly. "I just wanted to be sure what sort of champagne you wanted served at the open bar." He gestured with his arm and the three crossed the room. "You know, for someone who runs so fast, I'd thought you would've been here quicker."

"Oh." Barry waved a hand, glancing at the titles of some books as they passed the bookshelf. "I stopped to put some violent criminals in jail." He looked back at Bruce, lifting an eyebrow. "The cells are a lot fuller than I thought they'd be."

"Well, contrary to popular opinion, the Bat Cave doesn't have its own prison. Or else I'm sure the population of criminals would react a bit differently." Bruce cleared his throat. "You actually stopped to put people away?"

Cadence shrugged modestly. "What can we say? We see a crime committed and we can't help ourselves."

"Well, maybe it'll put Batman in a better light."

"I don't think that's possible." Clark turned away from the woman he was speaking to and the two crossed the room to join the circle. "Commissioner Gordon has had it out for him since he first showed up in Gotham and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon." He nodded to Barry and Cadence. "I'm glad to see you two made it in one piece. I heard things haven't been going well in Central City right now."

"You'd win that bet," Barry said with a low sigh. "Ever since Lex Luthor showed up, things have been slowly been getting worse."

"If there's anyone who knows about Lex and his strange plans, you came to the right place," Clark said with a patient sigh. He gestured toward the woman beside him who watched the exchange with a friendly curiosity. A tall woman. An Amazonian woman if Barry were being honest. She dressed very simply, a blue long-sleeved blouse with ankle length blue skinny jeans and black high heeled shoes, her dark hair down and framing her face. But Barry could tell simply from looking at her that there was something different about her. Not quite human. Or even more human than others. "This is Diana Prince. Diana, this is Barry Allen and his fiancée Cadence Nash."

"Nice to meet you," Barry said, reaching out to shake her hand. Diana grasped it firmly, firm enough that Barry's eyes nearly popped out his head at the strength that came with her grasp. He hid it well, only bringing his hand, discreetly, back to his side to make a low whimpering sound when she turned her attention to Cadence.

"Nice to meet you," Diana agreed. Then she turned to Cadence and cupped both of her hands in her own. "You, too, sister," she added, practically gushing.

Cadence smiled in response then exchanged a look with Barry, who was too busy trying to stretch out his hand to notice. When the pain subsided, he focused in on the next thing that Clark said as her introduction. "Also known as Wonder Woman."

At that, Barry turned toward her, his eyes growing wide. "Wonder Woman?" He repeated. "As in _the _Wonder Woman?"

Clark snorted quietly. "Does he always add a 'the' in front of our names?" He asked Cadence.

"Only when he's in awe," Cadence replied. Then she grinned. "So, yes, he always adds a 'the' in front of it." She gestured toward Bruce. "You should've heard him when he first realized Bruce was Batman."

"That's because Oliver insisted that he didn't exist," Barry defended himself.

"Well, that's a conversation we're going to save for another day," Bruce interrupted. He looked each of his companions in the eye. "As we all know, there have been an increase in the response to those with fantastical powers over the year," he said. He took in a deep breath through his nose. "At first, it was something we thought was centered in Smallville with the meteor showers. The "meteor freaks" dominated the air waves with every strange case that came up with it."

"And the longer the cases came up, the more it drew people to them that wanted to figure out what made the meteor freaks," Clark agreed. "Hence Lex Luthor trying to figure out everything about me," he said. "And once Lex got that idea in his head, he became obsessed with finding out my secret and what it meant for those that were super powered in the world." He turned to Diana. "Through that time, it's where I met Diana. She now works at the DEO in Washington, D.C."

"The DEO?" Cadence's eyebrows rose.

She exchanged a glance with Barry, who reacted in surprise as well. They'd heard of the DEO, but Kara's and Debby's DEO on Earth-38, where Alex Danvers worked. The Kara Danvers on their Earth had disappeared years ago and hadn't been seen since. Thusly, it was possible there was no Alex Danvers on their Earth, meaning the DEO that Diana was a part of, was a different sort of DEO.

"Yes, I've come to find it a very fulfilling place, sister," Diana replied. "We worked hard to make sure that people like myself and Kal-El are able to live amongst the humans naturally. We monitor those with extranormal superpowers and prevent threats to the general public."

Barry frowned. The DEO worked out of Washington, D.C. and worked to make sure that metas and others with superpowers were to keep from being a general threat to the public…the same sort of garbage that Lex Luthor had said that he'd do with his political platform. Trying to make all of the metahumans give up their identities and rights. And…as far as he knew…give up their identities so others could make money off their lives.

Bruce noticed Barry's frown. "I can assure you that Diana is of the people that truly doesn't want anything to happen to those with abilities like yours." He paused briefly. "She's an Amazonian."

"I can see that," Barry replied, eyeing her stature.

Diana smiled kindly. "He means, Barry, that my name is Diana of Themyscira and I'm the Amazon Princess of Paradise Island."

"She's got as many powers as you, Clark, and Cadence have," Bruce explained. He took a long sip of champagne then swirled it around in his glass, watching the bubbles rise to the surface. "Which means she's just as susceptible to the danger that the rest of you guys are in. Which brings me to why I've asked you all here today."

"You heard about the metahuman hit list," Cadence realized. She folded her arms, letting out a low humming sound. Her eyebrows knitted together. "But your names weren't on the list. The only ones we saw were of ours, our friends…"

"That list was specific for Central City," Bruce said patiently. "Once we caught wind of it, I contacted Clark and Diana to see if there was anything that they could scrounge up on their ends as well. And we've found that there has been a similar list created in Metropolis as well as D.C."

Barry looked to Cadence, who's frown deepened even further, hearing that her hometown was having the same issue. He was sure she was thinking of her mother at that point, and quite possibly, her idea of moving to Central City. It wasn't that long ago, when they were looking into the case of the man smeared across the ceiling and walls of a broken down elevator, that she'd mentioned she had been looking around. And if they needed toe keep everyone safe, it was probably better to keep them all in one city to watch them.

"So, what does that mean?" Barry asked. "That it's the same group who are making these hit lists?" He thought for a second. "That Lex is behind them?"

"I wish it were that simple," Clark said. He stared so hard into his glass of champagne that Barry was sure it would've burst into flames from a shot of his heat vision. "But while we were able to uncover the hit lists, we weren't sure what it came from specifically."

"Not even the DEO has had means to figure it out," Diana agreed. She still had a pleasant smile on her face, but her eyes lowered to her feet, disappointment coating her tone. "We have the best means of technology, the best agents at our disposal and we haven't been able to determine the source of origin." She nodded to Clark. "Senator Kent has been working hard to combat anything that Lex has been projecting during his campaigns, but it only seems to serve fanning the flames of the fear those without powers feel."

"Which is why he's decided to use Central City as his base of operations," Bruce agreed.

"Because with the Singularity, the Reverse-Flash, Vandal Savage, Zoom, Savitar, the Breathtaker, the Assassination Bureau," Barry listed off, counting on his fingers.

"Wow, a lot has happened within the last few years," Cadence remarked with a grimace.

"It's no wonder that Lex would set his sights on Central City then," Barry said with a sigh. "First the Samuroids, then the bus metas—"

"—Bus metas?" Clark repeated.

And so, Barry explained everything that'd happened when he went into the Speed Force, when he came out, and what had happened since then. Taking special care to note that there was a good chance that there would be more metas who may or may not end up receiving powers because of the flood of dark matter that had poured out of the breach that he'd come from. "That Hit List could be getting bigger as the days pass."

"It still doesn't explain who's been trying to take us down," Cadence pointed out. "And as far as this has gone. As far as we know, it's just one person who's down on their luck, trying to make as much money as possible."

"There's one thing you're forgetting," Bruce pointed out. "That, whomever has targeted you, knows your identities. Which means it's not too hard to say they probably know ours as well." He thought for a moment. "And, could quite possibly be the same person who sent that…you called it a Samuroid?"

"So, we're back to where we started," Barry said, feeling his stomach sink in disappointment. It seemed that every time they figured something out, that they took a step forward, they were always knocked two steps back. "Trying to figure out who is sending out the Samuroids to face me and why."

"It's just you?" Clark asked.

"Just me. Cade's managed to defeat one so far, and Brady has as well. But every time they say they're after The Flash and will wait until I show up."

Clark smirked. "Who did you manage to tick off this time?"

"Lex Luthor, apparently," Cadence remarked. She looked Clark in the eye. "You said there's been a hit list for Metropolis? Has anyone from the Watchtower been…?" She trailed off, her voice turning quiet.

"Everyone at the Watchtower is fine," Clark said. "Lois has been keeping her ears to the ground since we caught wind of what was going on and decided to meet up so we could ensure we were on the same page on how to handle things." He shrugged. "There's strength in numbers, we've all worked together before, and there may come a time where we need to work together again."

"You've been going after Joker and Lex for a long time. And you still work to go after them when they become a danger to your cities again. How do you keep going?"

Barry wasn't sure what he'd do if he had to face the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, again, but continuously looked over his shoulder, just in case. Thawne was from the future, had managed to come from many different points in time to wreak havoc on Barry in ways he'd never expected.

It didn't take much for him to think that Thawne was behind the Hit List, hiding behind others who were desperate enough to eradicate metas that it'd take Barry down as well.

For a moment, Bruce and Clark simply looked at each other, as if unsure of how to answer. Then, Bruce said, "Because, if we stop, then we've left down those that don't deserve to have their lives uprooted with the pain that we've felt."

Barry nodded.

It hurt like hell and more when his other was murdered. Hurt even more when his father was murdered. And yet, he continued to protect the city, not just because he had the means to, but because he had the strength of the citizen of Central City behind him, had the strength of his team behind him, his family, the people he loved.

It was like Clark said, there was strength in numbers.

* * *

"Finally," DeVoe said, turning to face Marlize with a smirk. "They've made contact with the others."

"Yes," Marlize agreed. She reached around her husband and changed the image projected on screen from that of Wayne Manor to a group of twelve people—prisoners—locked away somewhere. "We can move onto the next phase now."

* * *

**A/N:** Working from home can be annoying sometimes, especially when it's something that can easily be done through an email. *Rolls eyes*. Either way, it took me some time getting around that and figuring out how I can write at the same time.

Also, I'm changing a bit with DeVoe and the bus metas (surprise, surprise. That'd be my trademark at this point, I think). But I think it'd give a better plot point for him and how things will eventually end up.

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Yep, whomever is after them knows their identities. Cade does have a gun on her, given to her with her position with the CCPD, but she hadn't thought to use it while fighting. She also has specific guns as Flare. The prices will change along with certain pints of the story, you have to pay attention to them and what's happened within the story to figure out why.

**DarkHelm145: **There's a lot that can happen with it, that makes me excited for you all to see my ideas and pay offs as well. Like, I'm excited with every story and plot I write within the Flash and the Flame series, and for this story, this is one of the main ones I love.

**Natalie Jarrett: **Oh yes, it was my inspiration for the metahuman hit list, along with the dc comic character Tommy Monaghan, that inspired me for this plot. And it's a pretty big one now. You'll see some things come from it.


	25. The Calm Before The Storm

**24**

_The Calm Before The Storm_

* * *

Brady barely had the chance to brace himself before he smacked into the lockers beside him. "Oof!" He looked over at Leah, who wrapped him in a tight hug, then over her shoulder at Connor, who shrugged before taking a picture. "I'm not _dying, _Leah, chill."

"Good." She smiled sweetly, taking a step back. "I was worried when I heard the news."

Brady's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

Mostly because he thought Leah was being a little _too _sweet to him. (He couldn't remember the last time she'd hugged him that tightly when seeing him for the first time in the day). But his eyes also bugged at the horrifying thought that anyone would know what'd happened. As far as he knew, being a minor, his name wouldn't be allowed to be put out in the media. At least his mother had drilled it in his head after showing him the many articles of his grandparents from when she was growing up that had festooned the newspaper. Being part of CCPN, she was able to ask for a favor with Iris to ensure that it didn't get out. (Brady was able to see the awkwardness of it, how do you ask someone you didn't even get along with for a favor?)

How would anyone else know?

His eyes darted toward each face that passed them, wondering if they were looking at him funny, too? If they were watching to see how he'd react to being back in school when so much was already going on?

Leah looked at him like he was stupid. As far as being back at school so soon, maybe he was. "Miss. Cadence told me what happened, just to make sure I was safe." She paused then punched Brady hard on the arm.

"Ow!" His eyes widened even further. He realized she had to have used her powers to add strength into the punch, or else his metahuman physiology—as Caitlin called it—wouldn't have made it hurt so easily if it were a normal punch. "What was _that _for?"

"For not telling me," she replied then folded her arms. She looked to Connor then back to Brady. "We're supposed to be a team and you guys keep leaving me in the dark."

Brady gave her a 'duh' look. "Like I'm _really _going to come to school and start a conversation by saying, guess what? I nearly got shot!" He realized how loudly he was speaking then lowered his voice, inclining his head toward the hallway. The three fell in step as they headed toward the lunchroom, Connor and Leah holding hands as they went, making a show of lifting their hands over Brady's head as he walked through them. "It's bad enough that there this meta hit list going around, I don't need anyone here finding out either."

"I told my…Oliver about it," Connor said, blushing at his stumble. "He said Felicity looked it over and even she can't figure out who's behind the list going up. Not _yet, _anyway."

"They use the same sort of programs as they do at STAR Labs," Brady said quickly. "If _they _can't figure it out, how could Felicity find it?"

Connor shrugged. "I just thought I'd ask."

"Okay, so…" Leah took in a deep breath then let it out, her shoulders slumping. "I guess it's not a bad thing we were benched." Nevertheless, she couldn't help but pout. "If they went after you and Miss. Cadence so quickly." She paused. "Twice."

"And if they know our identities, everyone around us is in danger," Brady agreed.

"Should you be back in school then?" Connor shook his head. "It took me all summer talking to therapists about what happened on the Island for me to…" he took in a deep breath. "To even talk about mom. You were attacked."

"It's not the first time," Brady reminded them. "Just…the first time they attacked _me_, not Shadowhunter."

Silence fell over the three pre-teens. The reality sinking in. They had superhero identities for a reason, they trained in hidden facilities for a reason. And that reason had finally been targeted; If there was anyone who knew of their identities, everyone around them was danger. From their family, to their friends, to completely innocent people. Just like that young couple that'd been hit when Barry and his mom had been who they were going after.

"You've had a lot happen to you lately," Leah said slowly when they entered the cafeteria and stood in line, sliding their trays along the rails as they picked their food. "Do you think you should take some time off for a while?"

"Look, it's not a big deal," Brady said. He filled his tray with good. "It happens. It's part of what I signed up for."

"You didn't sign up for anything," Connor said gently. He looked between his friends. "Neither of you did. You just…started developing your powers and they started to train you. You didn't really have a choice in the matter—oof!"

Brady stumbled, crashing into Connor, who nearly knocked Leah over when Chad slid himself down the line toward them. "Woops," Chad said with a big smile. "Sorry, didn't see you there." He reached around Brady, plucking his burger off his plate and dumped it on his own. Brady glared at him. "Great job at my party, you almost beat my score in laser tag."

"Thanks," Brady said shortly, eyeing him closely.

Chad had always been the popular guy in class, throwing it around whenever he was about to have another party. Practically making people beg him for an invitation when the whole class was always invited. But that was when they were in elementary school and, now, Chad was doing his best to throw his weight around since they'd started middle school.

It would explain why he went so hard as to utterly destroy Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry in laser tag. Even though it'd been really funny seeing how frustrated Cisco had been by the end of the day. He nearly snapped his gun in half for the last time the three had lost. Even with Iris joining them to try and bring up their score hadn't helped.

"Yeah, but what was with those old people with you?" Chad asked.

Brady smiled to himself, already imagining the way Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco would've reacted to being called 'old'. Barry would've give his wounded puppy look, Caitlin would've glared and given a very tame (and lame) insult in response, and Cisco would've completely opened a can of verbal whoopas on Chad…which Chad would easily deflect. But it would've been funny all the same.

"They're my mom's friends," Brady replied. "She didn't want to watch so many kids without someone to talk to." He sniffed. "You know…if _your _mom hadn't forced her into doing it."

Chad shrugged. Then licked his lips and asked. "Is your mom open for any more friends?"

Brady heard Leah gasp quietly. He sucked in a sharp breath through his nose and turned to face Chad's shit-eating grin. "What?" He managed to ask through a tight-lipped smile. He squeezed his hand into a fist at his side, holding it just below his tray. With his free hand, he drummed his fingertips on an empty space on the tray.

"Brady," Connor warned.

Brady ignored him.

"I'm just saying." Chad shrugged and folded his arms. Behind him, Derrick and the rest of Chad's group gave similar, shark-like grins. "She's pretty hot. Wouldn't mind being put to bed by that every night." He reached out to give what was supposed to be a friendly shoulder pat, but shoved Brady on the shoulder. "Does she keep reading you bed-time stories, too?"

"At least she can read," Brady shot back. "Unlike you."

Chad snorted. "Why read the book when you can watch the movie?"

"Why breathe air when you're gonna die anyway?" Leah asked, rolling her eyes.

Chad's gaze shifted to her and darkened, absolutely turned ugly. "I didn't ask you, freak."

"But she was talking to you," Brady shot back. He sucked in a deep breath, turning his head away. The last thing he needed was to be sent to the principal's office _again. _His mother would be upset and…they practically had an engraved plaque on the back of the seat for him. And now that there was someone out to get them, he didn't need to make it easier by being suspended. "And don't call her a freak." He grabbed his burger back from Chad and slammed it on his plate to punctuate his words.

"Don't you have anything better to do right now?" Connor asked, nose wrinkling. "_Anything_?"

"What's the matter, faggot?" Chad turned his attack to Connor. "Am In interrupting your time with your boyfriend?"

Brady sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth, let it out, and turned to Chad, grabbing hi by the front of his shirt. Chad's eyes widened just slightly when he pulled him forward, so close that their noses were touching. He felt his hands starting to shake, saw the front of Chad's shirt trembling as well, lifted his gaze and saw Derrick and the rest of Derrick's group eyeing him with wide eyes.

"Brady," Connor hissed from behind him. "Stop." Then continued when Brady didn't move. "Your eyes."

Immediately, Brady let go of Chad's shirt and took a step back. He glanced at Leah, who widened her eyes and tilted her head. _Dang it, _Brady shook his head. Squeezed his eyes tighter. Tried to will away the grunting growls that rolled up his throat. _Not now. _

"Are we having a little bit of a boy's club over here?" Rachel asked as she walked over, Alicia at her side. She smiled between the two groups then spotted Brady and 'awwed', pressing her hand flat to her chest. "Ohhh, are you _crying? _Did he hit you a little hard?_"_

Brady glared at her, started to say something back, but was cut off by Alicia, who rolled her eyes and hitched her purse up her shoulder. "Can we go now?" She asked. Rachel blinked in surprise and looked toward Alicia. "This is boring. I've got way more interesting things to do." She turned on her heel and walked toward an empty table in the cafeteria. With wide, uncertain eyes, Rachel turned to Chad, Derrick, and the others. They all panic-blinked back at her before leaving after Alicia.

_That was weird, _Brady thought, watching them go. He exchanged a look with Connor and Leah, one look proved they were thinking the same thing. Brady paid for his food and turned to go to a table, nearly knocking into Rose as he went, leaping back just in time to keep his tray from sliding onto her. "Sorry, Rose," he apologized quickly.

Rose smiled, dimples appearing in her cheeks. "No problem, Brady," she replied and walked to her own table, brushing her pigtails over her shoulders as she did so.

Brady watched her for a second before sitting down with Leah and Connor. As soon as they sat, Leah spoke, practically bursting with enthusiasm. "I think she likes you," Leah said.

"Who?" Brady snarked, nose wrinkling. "The queen of darkness?"

"No!" Leah pointed with her chin. "Rose."

"Yeah, right."

"Do you like her?" Connor asked. Brady glared at him, not exactly liking the way his best friend was smirking toward him. As if he knew something that Brady didn't. Which, Brady hated to admit, was possible. There weren't many people, other than his mom, who he spent as much time with and it was easy to get close to someone if they shared a room for the past six months.

"No!" Brady's eyes shifted to the left, to watch Rose once more. His mouth twisted to the side seconds before his eyes shot down to his plate, noticing her gaze move toward his. He couldn't help but look over…just to be sure she wasn't looking at _him._

"Then why do you keep looking at her?" Leah teased.

"Because we're _talking _about her!" Brady threw his hands up in exasperation. "Can we talk about something else?"

The rest of lunch went by with the three joking and laughing with each other. When the bell finally rang, they went their separate ways for activities period. Connor went to the school guidance counselor's office, as he was instructed to do until she felt he was able to freely speak of his mother's death. Leah went to art club, and Brady used the free period to play a game of pickup soccer with some boys from his class and the upper grades.

They ran around, passing the ball back and forth, shouting and laughing at each other as they went. While they played, Brady kept an eye on Chad, in case he decided to rev up on being a jerk again. But Chad behaved himself that time around, sure, he pushed a few people over, trying to bulldoze through them when he got the chance, but he at least didn't come too close to Brady.

_As if he'd be able to stand up straight if he came near me again, _Brady thought. Then suddenly stopped short, allowing the ball to get away from him. His eyebrows rose in surprise, he placed his hands on his hips, working to catch his breath from running so hard. Some of his classmates looked at him funny, Chad yelled a curse out at him, making Brady glare in response.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized to the team as they moved to start up the game again, Chad's team having gotten the goal. It surprised him how nasty of a thought shot through his head. Just as it surprised him how quickly he got angry at Chad. On one hand, he would never allow anyone to speak badly against his mom, but on the other hand, he was starting to bring too much attention to himself.

Up until that year, he continuously started the school year late for whatever reason, he kept finding excuses to leave the school to take down whatever meta it was that was attacking that day, had to have hushed conversations that others probably thought he was planning some sort of hit against them. And then the incident in the lunchroom with his eyes changing color, again, with Demon…

"You really don't seem to be up for anything today." Brady turned to find Rose standing next to him, cradling a tennis ball in the lacrosse stick she held in her hand. "Not that I've noticed," she added quickly, almost annoyed. "But…I noticed."

"Do you spend that much time noticing me?" Brady asked in response. Then blushed and looked away. _That was stupid!_

"It's easy to notice things when people don't notice you." Rose turned and threw the tennis ball.

It bounced across the ground, hit the fence and rolled back to her. It was a far shot, and she put a lot of power into it, but the ball seemed to have a life of its own when it rolled back toward them. Brady didn't know very much of physics—the only things he did know, he gleamed form long conversation he was stuck listening to between the brainiacs he was around in STAR Labs. (Not to mention, watching Barry get incredibly animated about…_whatever _when they were at home).

Brady glanced at her, but she turned away, cradling the ball once more. Almost a nervous movement. "People notice you."

"Yeah, when they want to."

"You make that sound like a bad thing."

"Oh, when you try _so hard _to be popular." She rolled her eyes. Then paused, turned to him, holding out the stick. "You want to try? Might be more fun than trying to dribble a ball and not kill Chad for once."

"Yeah, but he deserves it." Brady took the lacrosse stick in his hand and mimicked Rose's movements from before, rocking the ball back and force, watching as it moved through the cradle. Rolled back and forth. It didn't seem difficult, but he could feel the ball working its way out of the netting pretty easily. "Even some of the teachers say it."

"I know, I can always feel the negativity when Chad walks by them."

Brady turned and threw the ball toward the fence. It bounced against the ground, hit the fence, and slowly but surely rolled back. He frowned, tilting his head to the side. Part of him knew he hadn't put all of his strength that he could into it, which would've made the ball rocket toward the fence. (He couldn't bring too much attention to himself). But part of him was annoyed that the ball didn't come back as easily as Rose made it seem.

"What? Are you some kind of hippie?" He motioned to hand the stick back to her, but she made no move to take it. Shrugging, Brady scooped the ball off the ground and cradled it once more.

Rose laughed. "No, but I'm really into, you know, energies and auras and stuff. I can…sort of sense them."

"So you _are _a hippie!"

She laughed again. "No, it's…" She thought for a moment, folding her arms. "It's deeper than that. It's just being in tune with nature and man and how it affects each other." She twisted her mouth to the side. "My Aunt Mina," Rose replied. She brushed her long pigtail over her shoulder. "She used to work at CCU. She's the one who really taught me that sort of thing."

"Oh! My grandma works there," Brady said. He thought for a second, tilted his head. "And my grandpa, I guess." Harrison owned STAR Labs and when he as "Dr. Wells" he spent a lot of time focusing on Barry's training—though he was also a time-traveling speedster who _hated _Barry. Since Thawne had left, he spent more and more time away from STAR Labs, probably to distance himself from the harm he put toward them. Ashamed of the other part of him he couldn't quite control. He knew how that felt.

"You guess?"

"Well, it's—" Brady paused. His nose wrinkled. Why was it so easy to talk to her? "'It's complicated."

"Ah."

"What?"

"Nothing." Rose shrugged. Brady threw the ball back to the fence, this time it came back and Rose bent down to catch it in her hands. She turned toward Brady and motioned with her hand, almost shooing him away. Brady took a few large steps back in response. Rose cocked her arm and threw the ball toward Brady. He watched it for a moment then stuck the lacrosse stick in the air and caught the ball in the netting. He threw it back to her and they did it again. "It's just when people say things are 'complicated' they're not really. They just don't want to deal with whatever's going on."

"Or they can't talk about it."

"That too."

They threw the ball back and forth in silence until the bell rang, signaling them to go back to class. Brady caught the ball in his stick once more, then moved to send the ball back to him. His arm rotated halfway through and he stopped, his gaze shifting to the ground._ Huh? _He stopped and crouched toward the ground, studying the flower by his foot that seemed to have bloomed within the last few seconds; a large petaled, blue-gray flower—similar to the colors of Shadowhunter, he realized—that gently wafted in the breeze.

He glanced at it for a minute then tossed the ball back to Rose, who caught it in her hand. He walked over, extending her lacrosse stick back to her. "Thanks for letting me borrow this."

"You're welcome," Rose replied. "Have you ever played lacrosse before?"

"No, but my dad did. Mom thinks it might be a little dangerous."

That's what she said but…Brady knew it was a flimsy excuse. It was because she was afraid of what was going to happen if he accidentally lost control and used his powers in the middle of a game. He'd have to be really careful with it. First and foremost that he didn't hurt anyone, and he could do that so long as Demon didn't come out when he was playing. But lacrosse was a contract sport—the boys version of it anyway. They were allowed to hit each other, allowed to push and shove so much that they didn't get into a full blown fight.

Nevertheless, he would have to be careful not to phase through anyone or have an extra burst of strength that'd knock someone over, knock someone out…He would probably need to talk things over with his mom before playing just to be sure what the worries of it were. But if she was able to play soccer, which could be just as contact, and swim, _and _do cheerleading with her powers, then lacrosse couldn't be too hard.

"You should think of playing," Rose commented. She took the ball and stick from him, her fingers brushing over his. "You're really good." She turned and walked away.

Brady smiled.

* * *

The rest of the school day went by uneventfully, and as nervous as Brady was that he'd get notice of a bank being robbed, a car being jacked, some meta just wanting attention for the news cameras or to get face time with the Flash—it probably didn't help that he was looking at the clock so much that Connor and Leah constantly had to bring his attention back to class.

But the day went by without a hitch and, for the first time in a long time, Brady felt as if he was a normal kid. He hung out with his friends, learned things in class—turned up his nose at the homework, then went to soccer practice with Connor after saying bye to Leah, who was going to her dance class. Practice went by without a hitch, the team running more complicated drills than they had before and Brady allowed himself to push himself to the edge of using his abilities.

It was the most fun he had in a long time.

So much so that he didn't mind seeing Barry waiting at the end of practice instead of Ryder. He nudged Connor on the arm and the two went over to him, tired and out of breath.

"Hey, Barry," Brady greeted him. "Where's my dad?"

"He suddenly got called into a meeting and I finished my work early so I thought I'd come watch." Barry smiled and nodded. "You guys were great out there."

"Thanks," Connor replied shyly.

Brady, on the other hand, tilted his head and watched Barry closely. Tried to do what his mother could and determine whether or not he was lying about something, or hiding something. "You know we can walk home by ourselves. Take the bus by ourselves…"

"Fine, you caught me." Barry held up his hands, as if surrendering. "Ryder really did have a meeting to go to today, but—"

"—But you wanted to check up on me," Brady interrupted, frowning. He furiously spun his soccer ball in his hands. "You wanted to make sure I wasn't going to fall apart after what happened to me and mom." He jutted out his lip. "I can take are of myself."

"He's been like this all day," Connor said with a shake of his head. "Ignore him. I have." He laughed when Brady reached out and shoved him hard on the arm.

"I didn't come so I could watch you get home safe," Barry said. Brady lifted an eyebrow, not quite believing him. "If I wanted to do that, I could do it without you seeing me." He gave a teasing smile, swirling his finger in the air. "I'd run circles around you and you wouldn't even notice."

Brady paused. "You made your point."

"We have to be fitted for our suits," Barry continued. "For the wedding."

"Ugh."

"It's not that bad." Barry started walking and the boys fell in step with him, their cleats making clacking sound against the concrete of the sidewalk as they moved. "You just stand there and have a measuring tape moved around to make sure everything fits well. Then you don't have to wear it again until the actual wedding and that's not for months now."

"I know, we keep getting the RSVPs in the mail," Brady reminded him.

"Um, Barry?" Connor looked at Barry with a troubled expression. "Is it really a good idea to get fitted if we're really sweaty?"

Barry paused so fast that Brady and Connor both crashed into him and laughed, backing away. "Uh… you might have a point." Barry sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay…" he thought for a moment. "Why don't we just surprise your mom with dinner then?"

"Why? What'd you do?"

Barry glared at Brady who smiled sweetly in response. "She's had a long day."

"The whole hit list thing?"

"And the whole CCPD knows," Barry agreed. "That's not something that we can keep quiet. The CCPD is like a family and when something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. Like our other team."

"Oh." Brady's frown deepened. It was one thing to have someone talk badly about her, but another for her to have a bad day. She didn't like having people talk about her, often being reminded about it when it came to people finding out how old she was when she had him. He saw her brush it off with a smile but could see in her eyes how much it annoyed her. If it was now happening because of the attack…

"We can make her favorite food," Connor suggested. "She taught me how to cook when I first got here."

"And I can make a pie!" Barry agreed.

Brady plastered an encouraging smile on his face and leaned over to Connor to whisper, "We still have that one in the freezer, right?" Connor smiled and nodded while Barry whipped around and glared at him.

* * *

"See? This is fun, right?" Barry asked, flipping through a cookbook, looking for a pie recipe.

"Don't tell me that you're going to be that nerdy dad that tries to make everything cool," Brady groaned with a roll of his eyes. He stood at the stove, rapidly stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce, not paying much attention to the splatters of red he was getting everywhere. "When it's all, actually, really lame."

Barry placed his hands on the edge of the counter, putting the book aside, and leaned forward. "I thought you weren't supposed to act like a teenager until you were thirteen."

"Do you remember when you were thirteen?" Connor asked. He stood at the counter, carefully slicing a loaf of bread before basting them in garlic butter.

Barry's smile slowly, yet surely, started to fade. His eyes shifted, memories of a life long ago coming back to haunt him. "I try not to think about that," he replied. "I was a big nerd."

"No!" Brady said sarcastically, widening his eyes. "You don't say."

"I meant bigger than I am _now, _smarty-pants." Barry flapped Brady with a dishtowel, making Brady laugh and lean away from the attack. "I was president of the anime club, the key club, astronomy club, yearbook…"

"What's Key Club?" Connor asked. He flicked his hair back from his face.

"It's a fancy way to say volunteering," Barry explained. "The students would plan blood drives, clothing drives, food drives…we'd clean up the park, we'd visit the senior citizen centers…" He turned back to the cookbook and the bowl of filling sitting next to her. "A lot of those kinds of things."

"And you did all of that _and _those other clubs? How'd you find the time?"

"It's was easy, because I was using the time not to think about my parents," Barry said honestly. "It was only two years since my mom died and when my dad was sent to prison, so I threw myself into as much stuff as I could not to think of them." He looked to Connor who nodded, leaning back in his seat, a faraway look coming to his eye.

Brady watched his friend then looked to Barry, unsure of what to do. Connor had been doing that a lot lately, since Oliver had showed up at the apartment and got into a fight with his mom. Barry noticed the look and nodded, catching the hint.

"So, Connor, have you really heard anything from Oliver lately?" He asked. "Or Felicity?"

Connor shrugged. "Felicity messages me every now and then. When things aren't too busy. I haven't really heard too much from Oliver. Not surprising." He bobbed his head. "Raisa says 'hi' though."

"What about Thea?" Brady asked.

Connor sank even further, shoulders slumping forward. "Still in a coma. No change."

"I'm sorry, Connor," Barry said honestly. "You know, if you ever need any one to talk to…"

Connor's attention, like Brady's, was diverted by Cadence coming through the front door. Brady smiled to himself, seeing her shoulders slump as if she had the weight of the world knocking her down. But saw how she straightened when she saw all the boys in the kitchen. "Mom!" Brady turned down the fire beneath the burning and went over to give her a hug. "How was work?"

"Fine," Cadence said after a second. She cast a meaningful look to Barry above his head, but Brady noticed. Cadence saw the look on his face then added, "Nothing you need to worry about yet. How was school?"

"Fine." Brady smirked at her.

"You didn't get into any trouble?"

''No."

"It was a shock to me, too," Connor called to her.

"Hi," Barry greeted her.

"Hi." Cadence walked up to the island after kicking off her shoes. "Wow, that smells good. What is it?" Then she noticed the flour dusted over everything and her eyes widened. "And what's _that _all over everything?"

"Flour," Connor said. He dusted off his hands. "We were making some noodles from scratch." He nodded to Barry. "And Barry's making a pie."

Cadence's eyes flickered. "Really?" She looked over to Brady, who stood just behind Barry, frantically and exaggeratedly mouthing, "frozen," while pointing to a box he'd taken out when Barry wasn't looking. Cadence's visibly relaxed and she looped an arm around Barry's waist, giving him a kiss. "Thanks, babe."

"You're welcome," Barry replied. "Do you want to help?"

"No, I think I'll just sit back and be waited on hand and foot." Cadence lifted herself up and sat on the counter, flipping through the mail. "Got some more RSVPs," she said to Barry, holding up save the date cards. "Looks like every socialite in Metropolis is coming." Her eyebrows rose. "The Dearbons are coming."

"Who?" Barry's face scrunched up.

"Don't ask," Cadence replied. She ran a hand through her hair. "Though that reminds me I need to see how Grace is doing." She noticed the looks turning her way. "Her parents just died, and, right now, she's in CPS custody until we can get a hold of her next living relative. It's her uncle or something."

"Seems to be going around a lot," Connor said quietly.

"It's a tough price to pay for the life we live," Brady said.

"Yeah, but a lot of us can't afford it." He pushed himself away from the counter and jumped to the floor. "I'm not hungry, I'm just going to do some homework." He left the kitchen, leaving the others in silence.

All until Barry folded his arms and asked, "Are you still mad at Oliver?"

"Of course, I'm still mad at Oliver, but Connor's not my kid, so it's not really any of my business what happens to him." She didn't look at Barry before saying, "Stop looking at me like that."

"I'm just saying…" Barry trailed off, raising his eyes to think. "If Joe had the same thought for me, when I first moved in with him, I probably wouldn't be where I am right now. It would've been devastating to know the man I looked up to was blowing it off, saying I wasn't his kid and so his thoughts didn't matter. I probably would've been able to run off to see my dad more often if that were the case."

"Yeah, but didn't Joe also think that your dad was the one who killed your mom at first?" Brady asked, turning from the stove with the noddle pot. Her jerked his head out of the way of the steam cloud that popped up, until Cadence waved her hand and the steam immediately went away. Then he noticed his mother's glare. "What?"

"It's okay," Barry reassured her. "He did think that. For a long time. All up until I became the Flash and he saw the impossible with his own eyes. But I never held that against him. Because he was still the best father I could ask for, without my dad being around."

Brady twisted his mouth to the side. Then his eyes lit up and he leaned toward his mom. "Did you Barry was president of the anime club when he was in school?"

"For real?"

Cadence laughed. "That's the club you were in?" She pulled out her phone and started to scroll through it.

"That wasn't the _only _club I was part of," Barry said defensively. He stuck his tongue out at Brady, who laughed. "I was part of the Astronomy Club and the Key Club…"

"He was the president of the anime club," Brady broke in.

"Not the science club?" Cadence teased. "Math club? Chess club?"

"Oh yeah?" Barry turned his disgruntled look toward his fiancée. "What clubs were you a part of in school?"

"Practically all of them," Cadence said dryly. "It's a wonder my head didn't explode." Then her eyes lit up. "Oh my God! I found a picture!" She leaned away from Brady and waved her phone in Brady's face. "From high school!"

"Let me see!" Brady grabbed the phone and studied the picture from Central City High School. A picture of Barry, to be exact. With long hair styled over his forehead, and a dopey expression on his face as if he'd just been caught unaware. Brady laughed. "Nice look, Barry!"

"Give me that."

Brady phased Barry through him, causing the speedster to trip, almost falling to the floor, and hurried back to his mom's side. "Look at his hair."

"That's a bad picture of me," Barry protested.

"Shut up, you look cute," Cadence replied. She giggled, looking closer at the photo. "Actually, it looks just like your picture for the CCPD, Baby Face."

"Don't start."

"Do you get carded every time you go to the movie theater?" Brady asked. "What was the last R-rated movie you went to?"

Barry sighed. He turned toward Cadence, reaching for her phone, but she moved it to her other hand, keeping it away from him. "There're a lot of better pictures of me."

"Yeah, but they don't drive you as crazy as this one does." Cadence saw the look on Barry's face and quickly shoved her phone into Brady's hand. "Run. Run!"

Brady started to run, darting to the left around the island as Barry reached for him. He sprinted forward, leaping over a coffee table when Barry turned and used his super speed to chase him. Brady phased, making Barry race through him and fall face first on the couch. "Sorry, Flash," Brady taunted. "You whoosh, you lose—ah!"

He barely got the words out of his mouth, before seeing the lightning crackle through Barry's eyes and his future step-father leapt toward him. Brady closed his eyes, turning away.

_Wham!_

The force of the hit knocked Brady onto his butt. He looked up and found Barry sitting on the ground as well, having had been hit by the Brady's sudden use of powers, solidifying himself for the second time. Brady shook his head, clearing away the daze, and started to laugh, noticing the bright red bump in the middle of Barry's forehead that he tried to rub.

Barry recovered quicker than Brady anticipated, and the next thing he knew, he was being mercilessly tickled, fingertips digging into his ribs as he tried to hold onto his mom's phone. Brady laughed hysterically, tried to phone enough to phase away, but was laughing too hard to focus long enough.

"Mom! Mom, mom, help!" He cried, frantically kicked his legs, as if trying to rev them up to get away faster. Then he felt another set of hands tickling him, along with smelling the faint scent of smoke, and he laughed harder. "Help _me_, not _him_!"

But his protests were drowned out by their combined laughter.

He meant to talk to them about the change in his powers, about the way his eyes glowed when he got very emotional, about the feral side that came out when he was fighting hard enough.

But there weren't many days like this, and he wasn't going to ruin it.

* * *

**A/N: **So it's been a bit since we've seen the bus metas in action (so far we'd seen Kilgore and Ralph) but now we're really getting back into the next one with them and DeVoe again. And, of course, with the meta hit list. Everything I do, even the slowdown chapters, has something that pushes the plot forward a little bit and I'm wondering if you caught it here. :)

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Your guesses are actually really close. Just not quite there, completely, yet.

**DarkHelm142: **Despite Clark being from Smallville, I use a lot of different animated things (Tv shows/movies) to ensure that I get the characters' voices, mannerisms, and their motivations correct, so I'm glad it worked out here. It's not the last we've seen of the Big Three.


	26. Ralph Dibny, I know

**25**

_Ralph Dibny, I know  
_

* * *

Barry zipped into CCPN and tapped Iris on the shoulder, making her scream and throw her proofs all over the place. Only for the thrown papers to add in on the flurry of sheets he'd managed to blow off the surrounding tables of her co-workers. All eyes turned toward Barry and Iris, the former grinning madly, while the latter shot a glare at him and stooped to gather her papers off the floor.

"You okay?" Barry asked, trying and failing to hide his laugh.

"Oh, I'm great," Iris said sarcastically. "Just got scared nearly half to death by my best friend who almost revealed his identity to everyone!" She stood and looked to her co-workers, who continued to stare at her. She waved a hand, closing her eyes for a long second as she tried to thin of an excuse. "As a jerk," She clarified. "That my best friend revealed his identity that he's a jerk."

"Come on, Iris, it was funny," Barry said. He stooped next to her and started to help her clean. When no one was looking, he super speeded them together into a stack and handed them to her. Iris snatched them out of his hands, continuing to glare.

"Yeah, yeah, just stick around for my hospital bills if my heart suddenly stops." She sat at her desk, bringing over an empty chair for him to sit as well. She placed her papers on the desk and leaned back, folding her arms. "So, what's up?"

"I wanted to come by and see if there was any other news that was going out about the hit list." Iris gave him a look. He held up his hands defensively. "I know, I'm worrying over nothing—"

"—It's not nothing, Bare," Iris broke in. "Even if this didn't have to do with metas, you'd still be worried about everyone in the city." She shrugged calmly. "And that's one of the best things about you. But I don't want you worrying over something you shouldn't be worried about."

"Yet," Barry reminded her.

"That's exactly my point, Iris. I don't want to have to worry about when 'yet' is coming up. None of us can. We need to be prepared now. _Especially _because there's that hit list out there that knows our identities and probably knows everyone we've ever come into contact with. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Leaning forward, Iris placed her hand on top of Barry's and squeezed it gently. She looked him in the eye. "Nothing's going to happen to me, Barry. I know you wouldn't let that happen. So, I'm not afraid. And you can't live in fear, either. If you let it overrun you, you'll just let whomever doing this win. That's what I put in my article anyway."

"How's it going?" Barry asked. He pointed with his chin toward the computer. "The way Mayor Bellows went about everything…" He trailed off, shaking his head. He couldn't finish the sentence, not when the idea was so preposterous. Not when there was a chance that anyone listening could jump in on their conversation and misconstrue things. But, then again, how were you able to talk about the fact that you think the Mayor of the city may be in on what was going on with the hit list.

It hadn't been his first thought, but the way Mayor Bellows blew off the concern, as nothing more than a 'mugging gone wrong' and that Cadence and Brady were simply 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' angered him more than he thought it would. Especially when Iris had pointed out the recent string of attacks on innocent bystanders that had been in the way of Barry and Cadence when they were attacked.

It wouldn't take long before they looked at the reports, or even traffic cams, and put two and two together. Not much longer after to find out about their metahuman abilities and superhero identities. Especially, if he were being honest, anyone paid a little more than a bit of attention to his becoming the Flash in the first place, as well as the return of the Flash and his return from 'sabbatical' coinciding. It threw him for a loop when Cadence had done it when they first met.

He remembered how it'd surprised him so much that he couldn't come up with a good response when she flat out told him. He was The Flash. Uh…no I'm not? She scoffed and smiled at him, explained how she knew. (Though he still wasn't quite sure if it was something she found out on her own or if it had been from the Assassination Bureau following him).

"That's just how he's handling things to the public," Iris reassured him. "He doesn't want to cause any unjust worry for the citizens. I interviewed him for over an hour and his processes seem to go along with what we've already been doing because of the metas."

Barry leaned back in his seat, pulling his hand away from hers. He folded his arms, looking to his feet, missing Iris do the same, but for a different reason. "You mean with the nightly curfews, the the increased security in almost every building, the CCPD increasing patrols of the city for any meta related activity. Or, how about people ratting on each other; their family, friends, neighbors, _classmates _because they don't want metas around?"

"I get your point—"

"—Do you?" He burst out with emotion he didn't realize he was holding, and held his breath, waiting for the eyes that turned their way once more to turn back to their weekend work. He lowered his voice, practically hissed at her. "Do you know how many people…what the likelihood there are that there are metas out there! In here, even?" He looked meaningfully at her. His eyes roved over her face and hands, working to determine if she was exhibiting any signs of being one. "How do I know you're not a meta?"

Iris gave him a look filled with attitude. She tightened her folded arms and looked him in the eye. "What makes you think I would keep that a secret from you?" She demanded. "If I were a meta I'd tell you guys right away so that we could figure things out. Like a team. I wouldn't keep you in the dark. Especially with how dangerous it is. But not everything is up to you to fix, Barry. You have a whole _team _behind you, if you'd let them act like one."

"There's more to it than that, Iris. They weren't the ones who released an entire wave of dark matter onto a bus filed with innocent victims. And that's what they are now. Victims. Victims of becoming something they never asked for."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Barry, but we _were _the ones who released the wave of dark matter into the city and onto that bus!" Iris snapped. Barry pressed his lips together in, taking in a deep breath through his nose. "Onto those victims! Not you! We were trying to get _you _out and bring _you _back from the prison you were stuck in. So, no, Barry, I'm not going to allow you to put all of this on you. It's not going to bring your parents back."

Barry started; stared back at her. His mind ran a mile a minute. That was normal for him, his thoughts, movements, reactions were always slow since receiving his powers. That time, however, his thoughts raced even faster, working to figure out how she got to that point. "What…do you mean?"

Iris shook her head. She stared at Barry for a long moment then sighed heavily. "What do I mean? Barry…you always need a reason to save someone. You saved Julian Albert and other geeky kids from bullies at school. You tried to save your mom when she was murdered. You tried to save your dad from prison when you kept running away from home. You tried to save me when my laptop was stolen the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion. And all of this, all that you're doing now, is just a way for you to come to terms with the fact that you couldn't save your parents, and that you're still reeling from Flashpoint. Nothing you do, Bare, is going to bring your parents back. And it's not like doing all of this, now, is going to make anything different. You can't go back in time again-"

"-But I can make sure no one else ends up living a life they don't want," Barry insisted. "It's bad enough that we already have to handle anti-meta propaganda every time we leave the house or look through social media. And it's bad enough that we have people who were going to be meta because of the original explosion, but the ones who had no choice this time?" He shook his head. "I'm not going to let them live in a life of fear."

"So, what? You're going to make some sort of a cure and let people make their own decision of whether or not they want to live a normal life?"

Barry didn't respond. Not right away. He brought up his hand and ran it through his hair. "I don't know," he said, honestly. "But there has to be something we can do. And it all goes back to Mayor Bellows. If…if we can let him know that there's a chance more people could get hurt…"

"We'd have to tell the CCPD, too. But that would mean telling Chief Paulson. Which would give him yet another reason to dislike metas and The Flash and…" Iris let out a long sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Yeah, I get your point. But how can we do that without you telling him you're The Flash?"

"I could always make a Speed Mirage and try to be in two places at once. Though, I don't know how long I can keep that up or how it'd affect my speed."

"I guess it's back to the drawing board, then."

"We'll think of something. But, Iris, I _really _came by to tell you that your article was great." Barry leaned to the side and grabbed the most recent newspaper off her desk. He folded it around and found her byline with ease. "It really gives a voice to metas, and even non-metas to help out."

"Well, I wouldn't say it's one of my _best, _it's pretty good." She positively beamed, clamping her hands on the side of her seat as she sat up. She leaned forward to see her own hard work. "I hope you don't mind me quoting you—er, The Flash—for my article."

"The Flash doesn't mind. It's not like he's going to be posing for any magazine covers anytime soon, right?" He waited for Iris's positive response, then looked at her closely from the corner of his eye. "Right?" He pressed.

"I don't know." Iris grinned. "I think that cowl is very photogenic."

"Oh, haha."

"Hey, I told you before that you could be a model if you really wanted." She reached out and swatted him on the stomach. "Now that lightning gave you those abs, you could really make a career out of it." She laughed when Barry rolled his eyes and tossed the newspaper aside. "Whatever, I better get back to work. The Sunday newspaper is always the biggest and we need to get everything prepared for print for tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll leave you alone." Barry stood and prepared to leave, racing out of CCPN, but stopped when Iris continued to speak.

"But thanks for coming to visit me," she said. A small smile was on her face. "It really felt like old times, just the two of us. Hanging out."

"You making fun of me," Barry said.

"You _letting _me make fun of you," Iris teased.

Barry laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do let you do that. And…it hasn't been that long since we've last hung out, right?" It was a silly question. He knew it was true, that the two of them hadn't hung out by themselves in a long time. But there was a lot going on that he had to get used to. Every time he would try to get a sense of normalcy, even something else would come up.

Some, huge, cataclysmic event that he couldn't stop long enough for. And that was _after _she found out about his identity. He kept her in the dark for so long…it was hard to remember a time where she _hadn't _known about it. But, then again, Breathtaker and most of the city had had their minds erased after the first time they'd faced off against Breathtaker.

"Long enough," Iris insisted. "You haven't come to West Family Game Night in a while, either. It's just been me, dad, and Wally."

"I was in the Speed Force, Iris…"

"_After _that. You know what I mean, Barry. You used to be at our place a couple times a week and now we're lucky if we even see you outside of Team Flash."

"I have a lot on my mind, a lot that I need to work with…" Barry shook his head. "And I don't know if you've forgotten, but I've also got another speedster in my head who decides to make my life a living hell when he thinks its convenient." There was no telling how nice it was for Savitar to have silent the last couple of days. His brain quieter than it had been in a long while. (Not that it mattered much, when Savitar wasn't plaguing him, the life that repeatedly flashed before his eyes—Savitar's personal hell—was).

"I'm just saying you don't have to be the Flash all the time, and that there's more people here for you than you're letting in." For a moment, Barry was worried she was angry, but she gave him a sincere, kind smile that made him smile back. "We're all here for you, Barry. We're a team for a reason."

"I know. Thanks." He stood and wrapped his arms around Iris in a tight hug, which she gratefully returned. "Let us know if there's anything else you find out with Mayor Bellows or the hit list or anything."

"I heard you and dad are going to talk to Ralph again," Iris remarked when she let go, gently resting her hands on his shoulders. "If you hate him as much as you hated Julian, then I already feel sorry for the guy. Especially with Dad going to talk to him, too." She moved her hands up and placed them on Barry's cheeks, laughed to herself, then stepped away, shaking her head. "I would pay big money to see that."

"And I'm sure Dibny would take you up on that offer," Barry said, voice turning flat. "If you saw his office, you'd know there's a pretty good chance he needs it." Waving goodbye to Iris, Barry left CCPN and headed to where he and Joe had agreed to meet. Once he was away from CCPN, he took a quick lap around the city to ensure there wasn't anything going on before running to the nearest laundromat.

Joe and Brady were standing outside, tossing balled up socks into the baskets that stood by their feet. Joe jumped, turning away to place a hand on his chest when Barry suddenly appeared at his side, throwing out his arms to keep from pitching over with his speed suddenly coming to a stop.

Brady didn't pause in his throwing socks into his basket. "Hi, Barry."

"I swear, Barry, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days," Joe said, resting his free hand on the wall of the store. He took a couple of deep breaths while Barry shook his head. "One of these days very soon."

"You know, that's the same thing Iris said to me when I went to see her," Barry said. He patted Joe on the shoulder, smiling all the while. "Your impending death aside, thanks for meeting me here."

"No problem, Bare. It was my dream all through my tenure in the police academy that I'd spend a day at the launder mat." Joe's sarcasm wasn't lost on Barry, who glared at him in response. "What are we meeting here for, anyway?"

"Because there's a pretty good chance we'll run into Dibny here," Barry said. Joe looked at him curiously. "Look, I know the last time we talked to him, things didn't go well. But if there's a chance he's a meta, or he as on that bus, then we have to let him know that he may be a target on the list. As for why we're here at the launder mat, he hasn't been in his office since we visited him and this is one of the places he frequents."

"Have you been stalking him?" Joe demanded. He lowered his voice, watching as some seedy looking guys walked by, giving the three a passing glance then kept going, lifting their collars as they went. They continued down the sidewalk, glancing back at the three men, practically running away when Joe flashed his badge. "Let me rephrase that, has The _Flash _been stalking him?"

"No!" Barry said emphatically. "I've just been looking." He picked up the laundry baskets from the ground and shouldered his way into the launder mat. He stumbled, nearly fell across the threshold when the door swung open, loose on its hinges. The manager barely glanced at the three as they entered, only let out a guttural sound when he cleared his throat, then slammed his fist into the wall when the lights flickered.

"You _sure _he's going to show up here?" Joe's eyes roved over the dirty and dusty machines, as well as the mysterious brown sludge that seemed to be seeping out of the machine closest to him. He took a large step over the puddle and looked back to Barry.

"Even if he doesn't, we still need to do the laundry," Brady said. He picked up a basket and set it on a nearby dryer, then whipped open the washing machine, roughly shoving a pile of clothes inside.

"Why don't you just use the washers at STAR Labs?" Joe suggested.

"Cisco made those washers study enough to wash our suits, it would've ripped our actual clothes to shreds.

"Besides, Barry broke our washer and dryer trying to 'fix it'." Brady used air quotes around the words before throwing everything inside the machine. He frowned, leaning over the missing knobs to figure out how to turn the machine on. "I can't imagine what he'd do to the STAR Labs washers."

Joe gave a deep rumbling laugh while Barry folded his arms and looked away. "Oh, that's classic Barry. Even without his powers, he kept trying to fix things and make them worse before it got better." Then his laughter stopped, and he looked at Barry in warning, wagging his finger. "You better not do this with Dibny. If we're looking for him for the reason you say we are, then you have to give him a chance."

"If he's a meta, Joe, he's dangerous," Barry insisted. Brady walked over to Barry, holding out his hand. Without taking his gaze from Joe, Barry reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of quarters, slapping it into his palm. "He's just going to go out and hurt people."

"He hasn't done anything," Joe reminded him.

"Yet. Trust me. I know this guy. He's a bad guy."

"Bare, you _don't_ know that." Joe pulled out his phone when it buzzed with a text. He looked at it for a moment, a smile coming to his face. Barry lifted an eyebrow, watching hm carefully. He hadn't seen Joe grin so widely—or happily—since he'd returned from the Speed Force. And unless he had gotten news of winning the lottery, there wasn't any means for him to be smiling at the moment. Barry thought of using his superspeed to check the screen, but quickly decided against it. An angry Joe was a scary Joe. Finally, Joe put his phone away and added, "You haven't seen him in five years."

"As far as I knew, things with him would've changed with Flashpoint and that did nothing," Barry said dryly. He shook his head. "Every person that was on the bus the day I came out of the Speed Force has the potential to be 1,000 times more dangerous than they were before. Dibny included."

"And what if he changed?"

"People don't change."

"Mom did," Brady piped up. He punctuated his sentence, slamming the door to the washer and placed his foot against it to hold it shut against a trickle of water that threatened to spill out. "She tried to kill you. More than once." He shrugged. "Hell, I'm pretty sure she even tried to kill me once. And that was just an accident." He paused, eyes widening as he turned back to the two men, waving his hands back and forth. "Don't tell her I said 'hell'."

"So long as you don't tell her I brought you here," Barry replied.

His face screwed up. "To the launder mat?'

"To this side of town."

"Oh."

"Yeah, why did you bring him along, anyway?" Joe asked, tilting his head toward Brady. "I understand it being the weekend and there's no school. But's not the best place for a young kid to be. He's not too old for a babysitter."

"Yes, I am!" Brady insisted. He answered Joe's question," Connor went to visit his grandparents and mom is training Wally and Jesse at STAR Labs and she thought I'd stay out of more trouble with Barry." He folded his arms. "Obviously not considering we're going on a wild goose chase after this Dibny guy."

"It's not a wild goose chase. He'll be here! And your mom is a good person, he's not. A guy like Dibny has people how want to throw him off rooftops."

"Why do you?"

Barry hesitated. He sucked in a sharp breath and looked to Joe. Joe waved him off, silently saying, "This is your problem, not mine," making Barry sigh. He knew he had a problem with Dibny, but it couldn't have only been him that had a problem. Dibny singlehandedly embarrassed the CCPD, the city, and anyone who would have put trust in the CCPD all in one fell swoop. And that wasn't something that was easy to recover from, If ever.

"It was one of my first cases as Junior CSI," he explained. "Dibny was the Detective on the case. A woman named Judy Gimlin was stabbed to death."

"Kind of like that woman whose house was on fire," Brady said. He frowned, seeing the water come out faster and leapt up onto the top of the washer, pressing the heels of both of his feet against the door. "Mom said you were investigating a fire when you met. Before you found me."

Oh yeah. How could he forget that? It was before he found thins out about Michael Bloom. A woman had been found dead in her house, covered up by a house fire. Cadence had worked on the case due to her position at the hospital. He'd never asked her if that had been one of the victims, she had been dispatched to murder with the Assassination Bureau, and, honestly, didn't want to know the truth. There were many times she'd expressed remorse for what she'd done, he seen her to go the cemetery to visit graves with names he didn't recognize and, at times, would fall into lapses of silence with a faraway look to her eyes that all but proved the same.

The only difference for that case, and what Dibny did, was that Barry didn't know the results of the case. He'd become so engrossed by Cadence's abilities that he'd given the case over to the rest of the CCPD. Dibny's case, however, affected him more than any of the other cases he'd worked.

"Her husband, Reagan, was the prime suspect in the case," Barry continued. "But there was no evidence, nothing to tie him to the crime scene." He folded his arms, crossing his legs at the ankle as he leaned against another set of washers and dryers. They wiggled, making loud, rickety squeaking sounds when his weight pressed against it. "And then, Dibny miraculously found a knife with the husband's fingerprint. Case closed. Dibny was a hero." He looked toward the ceiling and shrugged. "I don't know, maybe because my mom was stabbed, I wanted to be sure. I analyzed the blade, the serrations on the knife didn't mactch the wound on the vic."

"He faked it?" Brady asked, eyebrows coming together. He curled his hands around the edge of the washer, knuckles turning white as the seconds passed. He couldn't imagine why anyone would want to do something like that? But then again, he knew guys like Chad, who absolutely hated to lose even something as tiny as a game of tic tac toe.

"Yep. And then he lied about it under oath."

"When you go up on the stand, you're asked to tell the entire truth about something," Joe explained to Brady. "And if you lie after you've made that promise and you're find out, you can get into a lot of trouble."

"He didn't just bend the rules," Barry agreed. "He committed perjury—evidence tampering. He was thrown off the force." Then he looked to Joe once more and said firmly, "Point is, he was crooked then, he's crooked now."

"You don't know that for sure," Brady pointed out. "You haven't seen the guy in five years. As far as you know, he's doing good doing…whatever it is he's doing now." He lowered his chin. "I mean, you thought Julian was a bad person, too, and it ended up being that he was brainwashed by Savitar. You may be smart, but you're not right about everything, you know?"

Barry blinked at him, noticing the sudden edge that came to the young boy's tone. As if he were annoyed about something. Joe looked to the two then went to do his own laundry as they waited. It wouldn't have been the first time Brady had been mad at him, Barry practically walked on egg shells on around him in case he managed to become as upset as he was when Barry first returned. But this was something different. He could tell.

"Brady, are you okay?" Barry asked him.

"I'm fine."

"No, I mean, are you _really _okay? I know we're better since I came back from the Speed Force and we talked but…" He held his breath, watching the young boy closely. He continued to stare across the dilapidated store, occasionally glancing at the front door whenever someone would walk by. It was the longest Barry had seen him without his nose buried in his phone, either. "You haven't really been yourself for a while." _He's not the same eight-year-old kid you met, _Barry reminded himself. _He's not going to be as happy and excited as he used to, but still…_

"What do you mean?" Brady's eyes shifted. He lowered his head and started to chew his lower lip, the same way his mother did when she was thinking very hard.

"I mean, you haven't been yourself." He waited for Brady to speak, only continued when Brady continued to stay silent. Thought of a different angle to get through to him. The same way Joe had done for him years before. "But then again, you're going through a lot more than other people have. Especially at your age. A lot more traumatic things than anyone should; you got powers, you have people who are after you because of your powers, your fought against your mom, you've been attacked at school, your doctor's office may be trying to leak your information of being a meta, you've had friends die, your thought your mom died—"

"—I get the point, Barry," Brady interrupted, turning away.

Barry quickly understood what it was. "You never talk about it," he said quietly.

"So?"

"So, keeping things like that inside isn't a good thing. Trust me." Barry placed a hand on his chest, felt his heart beating rapidly. Could even feel the little ridge of the upraised scar from being struck by lightning that continued to stick around. A reminder of the path he'd gone down since having been struck by lightning. "I didn't really talk about my mom's death and constantly ran away from home and lashed out at people around me. With Dad, I went and created Flashpoint. It may not be evident at first, but that trauma starts to show up in ways you don't expect."

Brady paused, his shoulders slowly but surely sliding upwards. "Like…becoming a different person?"

"Sort of, yeah. People can act differently."

"Um…" He started to kick his legs back and forth, the heels of his shoes making low 'thunk' sounds as it continued to hit the metal door. He reached out and started to drag his finger up and down the side of the washer, a squeaking sound emanating each time he did so. "Can it affect our powers?"

"Yes."

Brady continued to run his finger along the side of the washing machine as it hummed and bounced. "Uh, Barry. I think I have something I need to tell you." He looked over as the door to the launder mat opened, setting off the sound of a ringing bell. Ralph backed into the launder mat, carrying a basket in one hand and brushing crumbs off his fingers against the door frame with his other. Barry looked to Brady. "It can wait."

Turning, Ralph noticed Joe and Barry staring at him and blinked once. He rolled his eyes before lasering his gaze onto Barry. "Geez, Rookie, never thought I'd see the day where you slum it over to this side of the city." He brushed his hand across his front, smearing a blob of jelly against his skin as he did so. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Nothing," Barry replied, trying and failing to keep his irritation out of his voice. "I'm just doing laundry. Mine broke."

"You mean you couldn't just use all that fancy money from your parents' settlement to pay for it?" Ralph continued. Barry tightened his grasp against the handle of the basket in his hand. It started to crack under the pressure. "There's gotta be _something _good that comes out of that tragedy, right?"

"You know what, Dibny—"

"—And I stopped caring." Ralph held up his hand, immediately cutting Barry off. He turned to the manager behind the counter, greeting him with a, "What's up, Ramone?" and kept going to another washer dryer. Ralph nodded to Joe. "Joe."

"Ralph."

"Who's the short stack?" Ralph asked, nodding toward Brady. "I'd hate to say he doesn't look like you, Rookie. But sometimes that'd a good thing." Then he looked closer. "Seems kind of old, though. Don't tell me a guy like _you _was sewing your wild oats during the best years of your life!"

Barry's upper lip curled. "He's my fiancée's son."

"_Fiancée?" _Ralph flipped open a lid to a washer and started to haphazardly throw his clothes into the washer. Then he picked up a box of detergent an dumped a small mountain of soap inside. "Oh, I get it. You ruin my life and then go on to live yours merrily." He folded his arms. "How's that for irony?" He looked to Joe. "And Joe you…" he tilted his head. "You're glowing!"

"Uh—" Joe faltered blinking rapidly when he saw all eyes turn his way. "No, no I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Barry insisted.

"Um, uh, didn't we come here to talk to Ralph?" Joe interrupted.

"Ah. So you _have _been following me!" Ralph turned to Brady, gesturing toward Barry. "I'd be careful with this guy, Shortstack. I don't know what he's told you about what he did, but he's ruined my life once, I really don't need him to stalk me to do it again." He brought up his hand, tapping at his lips, eyes shifting back and forth. "Maybe I should find a new laundry place. Don't want him to snoop around ol' Ramone's livelihood and destroy that, too."

Ramone waved his hand toward the group, continuing to keep his head shoved into the rumpled magazine—that Barry could now see was an adult magazine—he held tightly in his hands. Barry grimaced. They really needed to get out of the launder mat as soon as possible. And if that meant forcing the answers out of Dibny, then that's what they would have to do.

Besides, Ralph had, indirectly, insulted his parents. "I'm sure you've got a lot of experience in helping him land on his feet," he said.

Ralph glared back at him. His cheeks bulged when he clenched his teeth. Lifting a finger, he jabbed it into Barry's shoulder. Repeatedly. Hard. "Isn't that easy for you to say? With your good job and your fiancée." Ralph turned back to his washer and flipped the lid closed, sending a cloud of detergent into the air. Joe coughed, leaning away from the cloud. "People like me, people like _us_,"—he gestured toward Ramone—"Are trying to get from one bill to the next. And I wouldn't have to do that if you hadn't caught me your job."

Barry sucked in a deep breath but it wasn't enough to quell the fury that exploded toward Ralph. "You got yourself fired!" He shouted, finally drawing Ramone's eyes their way. They peeked out over the top of the magazine, beady and bug-liked, glinting in his obvious entertainment. "You tampered with evidence! _You framed that guy_!"

"_Because he was guilty_!" Ralph shouted back, cheeks turning red from the effort. "And he was gonna get away with killing his wife and then _you let him go_." He thumped himself in the chest with his hat. "I was a good cop! I was a good detective!" His voice lowered to a hiss while he moved to stand in Barry's face, encompassing the speedster in the smell of sugar and jelly and giving him an eyeful of the crumbs left around his mouth. "I lost everything. And it was all because of you."

"Good people don't destroy lives and call it noble," Barry hissed back. "You were dirty then, you're dirty now. Live with that."

"I don't have to take this." Ralph held up his hands, palms out, and stood a step away from Barry. "I come here on my days off to do some laundry and hang out with my friend, Ramone. I don't need the do-gooder to follow me around and continuously accuse me of things that he doesn't understand. I've already got this annoying voice in my head that won't shut up. I don't need yours, too." He snapped toward Ramone and headed toward the door. "Ramone! Watch my stuff!"

Barry reached out as Ralph turned and grabbed Ralph's arm, holding him in place. "You're not going anywhere."

"Bare," Joe warned. "You can't force him to stay."

"Listen to the Detective, _Rookie," _Ralph snarled back. "Don't you know? Holding someone against their will is holding a hostage. Didn't they teach you that when you took the oath to join the police force? Or were you just too good to listen to your _elders_."

"Barry!" Brady's voice got his attention, a warning, worried cry. Barry turned to look at him at the same time Ralph moved, trying to slip his hand out from Barry's grasp. Barry blinked inside, seeing Ralph walking toward the door…with his arm still in Barry's hands. Brady's eyes widened at the same time Joe brought up his hand to cover his mouth. "Uh, Ralph?"

"What is it, Shortstack?" He turned back and gaped, staring at the arm in Barry's hands. The fleshy, malleable hand that practically sagged through Barry's fingers like Silly Putty.

"What the hell?" Ralph gasped. "Wha—I—wh-?" He wiggled his fingers, making Barry gasp in surprise and drop his hand to the floor of the shop. Joe leapt backwards, trying to keep from stepping on Ralph's hand, but managed to stomp on his fingers. "Ow! Watch it!"

"Sorry!" Joe quickly apologized.

"You should be! I need those fingers to write more IOUs!" Ralph then turned back to Barry and glared at him. "Do you see what happens when you're around me? First, you ruin my life. You cost me my job! Then you barge into my office and accuse me of being on some stupid bus because you found and IOU I wrote someone? And now you turned me into…some sort of freak! I don't know how you did it, Allen, but I know you did something! Now, get away from me before you do something to get me killed!" He turned around just in time to face two guys dressed like mobsters standing in front of him with guns pointed in his face. "Ah, crap." Ralph's shoulders slumped in defeat. He chuckled nervously, looking back and forth between the men. "Guys, you don't want to do this." He held up his free hand defensively. "I don't know what you want." He started to pull his other hand forward to hold his hand up as well. "But I know it's nothing to do with me—whoa!"

With the force of his pull, Ralph's arms stretched and extended wildly, flapping around the launder mat. Barry ducked out of the way, His arms extended wildly, crashing through the launder mat and striking the two men in the face. They fell to the side before getting up and cocking their guns at him once more.

"Guys, guys, we can talk about this."

Ralph's pleading fell on deaf ears. He took a step back then cried out, his feet sliding out from underneath him when he stepped in the puddle that leaked out from Brady's washing machine. Falling hard to the ground, Ralph's arms took another whirlwind around the launder mat, knocking jugs and bottles off the shelves above the dryers and crashed to the floor, where more puddles widened. At the same time, Joe ducked out of the way of the bullets that flew, the nearest ones ricocheting off the nearest washing machine.

Barry tapped into his speed, plucking bullets out of the air as he moved through the store, moving Joe, Brady, and Ramone to safety. When he tapped back into normal speed, he flinched, watching all of the carnage that continued to rampage around the launder mat.

"My store!" Ramone cried, grasping the sides of his head.

The mobsters cocked their guns and started to fire once more. Barry tensed his muscles, ready to move to run again, stopping only when one of them jerked their hand to the side and cried out in pain. Then the other cried out, slapping a hand over his neck where a bright red line appeared horizontally across his skin. Looking to the side, Barry saw Brady kneeling on the ground arm stretched back and one eye closed, ready to let loose another piece of weaponry from his slingshot.

Ralph looked at him as well. "What are you? Some sort of deranged Robin Hood?"

"CCPD!" Joe declared, whipping up his own weapon. "Freeze!"

The two men immediately backed out of the launder mat and disappeared down the street. Silence stretched over the store other than the dripping of liquids that stretched across the floor. Barry turned to Ralph. "You said you weren't on that bus," he said accusingly.

"What does it matter to you?" Ralph sneered.

"A lot," Brady replied.

"I hate to break it to you, Small Fry, but this is adult business and Rookie, here, barely passes as one. So I'm going to get out of here and pull myself together." He grunted, trying to bring his hands up from the ground, only resulting in his arms slinking across the ground in waves. "Oh, come on!"

But Barry wasn't going to let it go. "What did you mean, voices in your head?"

"You know, that voice in your head after you black out, telling you that you should've done _this _rather than _that_." Ralph shook his head. "The only good thing is that it's not always up there. But the last time I checked, the voice in your head was supposed to be your own, not some creepy old man's."

"He's delirious," Joe remarked.

"Or he's as normal as he's always been," Barry deadpanned. He shook his head, continuing to watch Ralph try to bring his hands back to his chest, dropping it every time he came close to holding them still. Barry's stomach lurched to the left and he reached out for the nearest dryer to keep him upright. "We need to get him to STAR Labs."

* * *

**A/N: **Once again, I had to split this chapter in half with how long it ended up becoming. It took me longer than I anticipated to have it up, but this story is being moved back to the one I pay the most attention to. (Don't worry, I didn't forget about my other Flash fic, _Chase You Down_, I'm going to update that one again soon). But there's plenty more coming that I hope you all are excited for!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Connor just doesn't know how to refer to Oliver. He's his father, but he hadn't been a dad to him in the time that he was born to the present. So he struggles with how to address it, if he does t all. You have to take into consideration, Cadence may look after him, but she's not Connor's mom or dad, so all of the big decisions she'd have to make for Connor will still have to go through Oliver and Felicity. She was just repeating what Oliver was basically telling her the last time he was around to see Connor. Also, this is the same thing that Cadence had said to Barry when they first met/first started dating. Barry wasn't Brady's dad and he shouldn't and can' t make decisions about or for him as it isn't any of Barry's business. Though you're not too far off with the comment that it's not like Cade at all.

**DarkHelm145:** Anime has and will always have a place in my heart. It had some of my earlier influences on fanfic.


	27. A Team Divided

**25**

_A Team Divided_

* * *

"Punch, punch, duck. Punch, punch, duck." Cadence counted repeatedly.

She stood in front of Wally and Jesse, counting each of their movements as they flanked her sides, punching toward her. As the seconds passed, the punches can faster and faster. She steeled the muscles in her arms and kept her hands firm against the punches that kept coming toward her. She frowned as they slowly started to increase in speed.

Wally and Jesse looked at each other out the corner of their eyes, before going faster and faster. Taking a step back, Cadence pressed her feet into the ground and found herself holding herself steady against the speedsters that were throwing their speed against her. She tapped into her enhanced strength, keeping her arms from being pushed back by the force of the blows that Wally and Jesse were throwing onto her.

Lightning crackled around the room as they continued to move, their hands blurring as they punched her fists. Finally, Cadence brought her hands back and punched forward as hard as she could, sending Wally and Jesse skidding on their heels.

"I'm pretty sure I said to not use your speed," Cadence said, shaking her out her hands. Her expression was playful, but the tone in her voice was serious. A juxtaposition of the day at hand. Training could be and was always fun, but there were more serious matters to handle with their training. They were training to stay alive, now that the metahuman hit list was out there.

Any time they left the comforts of their home, they were in danger. There was the chance that someone could figure out their identities and take them down faster than they could think. All for the monetary value that would make anyone willing to put their morals and ethics aside without a second of hesitation. But not without the guilt.

Wally leaned over, pressing his hands to his thighs, working to catch his breath from how fast and hard he'd punched. "Sorry," he apologized quickly. "I guess we just got carried away."

"Yeah," Jesse agreed. "Telling a speedster not to use their speed is like…telling humans not to breathe." She stood, scratching her shoulder though her STAR Labs t-shirt. "It's…just something that we have to do. It's a part of us." She gestured toward Cadence. "You sue your fire powers when no one's looking."

"A lot of control has to go in to being a Firestarter," Cadence replied.

"Firestarter?" Wally repeated, eyebrows coming together. "That's a fancy way of saying it. But at least we have a name now. Speedster…Firestarter…" His eyes lit up. "I guess all the ice metas would be _Icicles _then." Jesse rolled her eyes while Wally chuckled at his joke. "Come on, that was funny!"

Cadence smiled to herself. She folded her arms. "Firestarters, whether they can conjure their own fire or not, have to have a lot of control over their abilities and have to focus on it at all times or else they'd potentially be a danger to everyone and everything around them. Even one instance of letting go of control and the air around you could be burnt up." She twirled her finger in the air before gesturing with her head, focusing on the two speedsters in front of her. They'd seen a lot of action, but were still fairly new to the superhero game.

Jesse, however, had done much more than Wally had. When fighting against Savitar, she found herself going against Mindboggler. And had killed her. That was a tough burden to carry if you didn't have the tools to do so. Taking a life, even when you were stuck in the most desperate of times, was a decision you could never come back from.

"When I first got my powers, the slightest things that would scare me in the hospital, that would send my heart racing, was enough to make my temperature skyrocket and the smoke alarms to go off. If I let go of control here," her eyes roved around the training room. "All of STAR Labs would burn to the ground." She shrugged. "Not that Barry couldn't rebuild it in a few days, but…"

"And that's why you have the Heat Locker," Wally realized. "To make sure it keeps everything in line. If you use too much power outside of it, if you let go of control…the Heat Locker can give you that control back."

"Just like you've got the Speed Lab, I've got the Heat Locker," Cadence agreed. She looked down at her hands. "Control, discipline, forethought, and restraint are extremely important in being a Firestarter. Unconscious, emotion-influenced, impulsive use of our power can be catastrophic." She looked to Jesse. "If you lose control…everything about yourself can be stripped away. Even the most minimal decisions can change your life forever."

Jesse lowered her chin and looked away.

"Now." Cadence brought her hands back up one more. "Are you ready to try again?" Wally and Jesse got back into their fighting positions. "No speed, all control. Make sure to hit the same spot every time, and anticipate my moves in response. Anticipation is key."

Once again, they broke into the little dance of punches and blocking. Working hard enough that Wally and Jesse didn't notice Harry come into the training room, watching them carefully as he leaned against the door frame. Critically.

Cadence, however, did notice. She noticed the sudden addition of body temperature of the group, noticed the change in the temperature of the room. She kept an eye on him as they worked. Kept n eye on the doppelganger of her birth father, wondering what it was that he was doing. Despite being Harrison in face, he wasn't Harrison in personality, and made it clear whenever he was around Team Flash or anyone who was beneath them. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but a feel a sense of connection to him and all versions of Harrison that she'd come across so far.

Harry lowered his chin, the reflection of his glasses changing so that she could see his eyes. He locked his gaze with her and nodded, noticing her see him. Cadence nodded back then focused her attention back on Wally and Jesse. They were doing well but…_Not well enough, _she thought. On their next punch, Cadence quickly caught their hands, pulled her arm back so that they stumbled forward, then threw forward with her enhanced strength.

They flipped over and landed hard on their backs on the floor. Wally zipped himself back to his feet while Cadence punched towards the ground, sliding the gloves off her hand.

"I'm pretty sure I also said to make sure that you're ready for anything," Cadence said with a light smirk to herself. "Good job guys."

"Ugh. She says that but still has to gloat," Wally commented, rubbing the side of his head.

"Yeah, that sounds like someone else I know," Jesse agreed. She took Wally's offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She smiled warmly up at him, making him smile back.

Harry stepped forward, placing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and strolled into the room. "You were reckless in looking away from her," he commented, walking toward the group. "You were too busy trying to impress each other with your fancy tricks." He looked to Jesse, who tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "We've been over this a million times, Jesse. You have to act like a leader if you're going to reach your full potential."

"I _know_, dad," Jesse intoned.

"If you're going to lead your own team, you have to make sure that you take all emotion and distraction out of it and move forward. Ignore things that aren't part of your improvement," Harry continued, as if Jesse hadn't spoken. His eyes were alit with a passionate fire that even made Cadence antsy. She exchanged a look with Wally, who shrugged in response. "Barry's the leader of his team and—"

"—I hate to interrupt," Wally said, sticking up his hand. He noticed Harry's glare turn his way. "I mean, I _really _hate to do it. But Barry's not our team leader anymore."

"I am," Cadence agreed.

"Y-you." Harry blinked, blue eyes widened. He brought his hand up to his chin, returning to an inquisitive expression. "Yes, that makes sense. It's your team. You lead. And everyone falls in line." He placed his hands on his hips and turned to Jesse, who rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You see? This is what I'm trying to do for you. It's the way that your team should be working."

"It's _fine, _dad," Jesse replied. Cadence and Wally exchanged another glance. Clearly the two had been arguing about the topic for a long time, judging by Jesse's tone and how they continued to snipe at each other.

"_Fine _isn't the best thing for your team. You need to be strong. You need to be sharp. You need to understand that you don't have all the time in the world to handle what's thrown at you." Harry took in a deep breath. "You may have control of the Speed Force, but there's more to it than that."

Cadence folded her arms. "Like what?"

"I've been doing some research into what Jay Garrick told us, further research into what I've suspected," Harry continued. "And there's more to it than we originally thought."

"Isn't that just normal for us right now?" Wally asked sarcastically. "As far as we knew, that metahuman hit list could've been an invitation list. But it's just another list of people that are trying to kill us. Again."

"The Speed Force as we know it is the cosmic energy that ensures the speedsters are able to connect with their power. It keeps them safe and provides, the power around velocity and movements, and represents reality in motion and pushes time and space forward. We've seen representations of that in Barry, Wally, Jesse, Savitar, Zoom, Impulse, Reverse-Flash…" Harry took in a deep breath and started to pace the floor. "Then there's the Sage Force. The Safe Force is an energy field very similar to the Speed Force in that anyone who is entrusted with that power, their minds are radically enhanced. It takes them to super-genius levels and may gran them powers like telepathy and telekinesis.

Harry waved his hand. "Is there anyone you can think of that has showcased that ability?" His tone was like that of a kindergarten teacher, waiting for the obvious answer to be given. However, the tone in his voice wasn't as nurturing. It sounded more sinister than he'd wanted. Probably.

Cadence thought for a moment. "We've never run into any metas that can do that."

"You haven't run into any _human _metas that can do it."

"So you're saying there's some sort of, I don't know…meta-_rat _who has the powers of telekinesis?" Wally asked.

"Not a rat, but a gorilla," Jesse pointed out. "Gorilla Grodd, Solovar…all of those gorillas have the ability to read minds. To be able to speak through their minds and have made so that they can control others."

Harry nodded. "And then there's the Still Force. The Still Force is based around entropy and inertia. Connection to it allows whomever taps into it to negate motion; to induce and accelerate the force of entropy. When you were going against the Turtle, you were going against the Still Force. And the Strength Force is based around gravity and the force of motion. Those who connect to the Strength Force obtain radically enhanced strength and durability. It also encourages the increased strength in those with the geokinetic and geothermic components."

"Like Geomancer," Cadence agreed. Then a horrifying thought occurred to her. "And like—"

She was cut off by the sound of screaming slowly starting to increase in volume as it came to and passed by the training room. Wally zipped to the doorway, sticking his head out. He ducked back in and looked to the group with a strange expression on his face.

"Uh, guys, I think you might want to see this."

Cadence, Jesse, and Harry went to the door and looked down, down at the long, stretchy…_thing _that ran from the hallway to the medical bay. Quickly, the four stepped over the stretchy thing and hurried to follow the screaming voices to find Barry, Brady, Joe, Iris, Cisco, and Caitlin all standing in the medical bay, shouting over one another and the person—or what used to be a person—lying on the bed, arms and legs were stretched in all directions.

"What the hell?" Jesse gasped, coming to a stop when she saw the commotion that was going on. With wide eyes, she turned to Barry and opened her mouth. For a few moments she spluttered, trying to figure out where to start, but failing all the same.

"Yeah," Barry said warily. He waved a hand; a way to greet them and to wave them off from making any comments that they'd probably already heard. "'We know." Cadence hurried to Ralph's side, her eyes searching the scene set in front of them.

"Clearly, he's a bus meta," she remarked, locking eyes with Barry over his body. Barry shrugged and nodded in response. She had a feeling there was much more to the story, but it wasn't important to press at the moment. There was much more to it than that, most importantly being, how were they going to put him back together.

Harry, who'd entered the room just behind Cadence grabbed a tablet from the station beside Ralph's bed and flipped through it. It went through a series of screens before finally coming to a rest upon what, to a normal person, would look like a blob of mess. Through her series of medical classes, she recognized it as a picture of the cells in Dibny's body.

"This is interesting," Harry said, staring at the tablet with wide eyes. He continued to move his fingers over the screen, the same pictures of his cells continuing to show despite how far and wide he moved the camera. "All the dark matter he's been exposed has polymerized Dibny's cells."

Ralph's face screwed up into an expression of confusion. Scared confusion, all the same, but confusion. "What the hell is dark matter and why is it in my cells?" His voice came out in a whimper. He looked over the sea of faces that looked back at him, unsure of how to respond.

"You're saying the walls of every cell in his body have elasticized?" Caitlin asked, turning her attention to Harry instead of responding to Dibny, who continued to whimper the longer no one answered his question.

"It seems they formed an unbreakable bond at the atomic level and you can stretch these cells and stretch these cells."

"Like silly putty?" Brady and Cisco asked at the same time, and smiled at each other over their childlike response to the information thrown at them. Cadence looked at her son with a raised eyebrow, surprised to find how easily he was able to figure out what Harry was trying to say with such big words.

"Like silly putty," Harry nodded in agreement.

Barry held up his hand and leaned toward Ralph. He quickly changed the subject with his targeted question. "Ralph, who were those guys after you?"

All at once, Ralph clenched his teeth. He reached out his hand, that wrapped around Barry's body, pinning the speedster's arms to his sides, before he reached up to grab Barry's collar to bring him into his face. "Is that really the issue right now?" He demanded.

"Whoa, whoa, Ralph, calm down." Iris quickly stepped up to Barry's side and held up her hands. "We're all trying to help you, right now." She placed her hand on Barry's shoulder. "Even Barry."

"Look at me!" Ralph wailed. "Allen, you and your STAR Labs nerds better put me back together." He looked to Cadence and Jesse, tilted his head to the side and said, "Or maybe I can get some nurses to help me out over here!"

The room exploded all at once with Cadence and Jesse makes cries of outrage, while Wally quickly moved in front of Jesse, blocking her off, Cisco made a loud, disapproving sound and slapped his hands over Brady's ears, Barry looked like he was seconds away from hauling off and slapping Ralph across the face.

Caitlin, on the other hand, along with Joe, were the only ones who were keeping a calm head through everything. She pushed Barry and Iris back out of the way, held her hand in front of Cisco's face to keep him from continually shouting about Brady's 'innocence' and addressed Ralph. "Listen, I'm going to help you," She said, making him nod rapidly. She grabbed his arm and stared to move. "I just need a sample of blood and—" her words were cut off with a scream when she managed to pull Ralph's arm forward and it drooped in her hands. In surprise, she dropped his hand and jumped back, pressing her hands to the bench behind her.

But she had her hand placed in the wrong spot and planted it firmly onto a bottle of baby powder, that she had been in the middle of putting away when the medical bay was charged into. A puff cloud of powder flew into the air and covered Ralph from head to toe.

For a second, everything in the room stopped as they watched Ralph. His nose started to twitch back and forth, his lips twitched, he sucked in a deep breath then—_achoo! _Ralph so hard that his face flew forward and landed in his hands. Within the same silence, Ralph's whimpers increased in sound before it was suddenly covered by the sound of vomiting.

Cadence turned and watched as Joe slowly stood, lowering a waste basket to the ground. His skin tone had suddenly taken on a green shade, eyes watery when he reached out and wiped at his mouth. "Four years of seeing this stuff and I finally puked."

"Congratulations," Brady mumbled, his face screwed up into an expression of utter disgust.

Caitlin blinked hard and shook her head, ringlets bouncing by her face. She brought up a hand and ran it through her hair. "Brady, can you get me the Lorazepam?"

He nodded and went to the filing cabinet that held vials and vials of different medicines and steroids. "How much do you need?" He asked, hand hovering over a handle to a drawer.

"50 miligrams."

Brady opened the top drawer and pulled out a light blue colored vial. He handed it over to Caitlin, who took it and started to set up a dosage for Ralph. Cisco watched her movements carefully, then looked back at Ralph as he struggled to mash his face…back on his face.

"Can you put him back together?" Cisco asked.

"Maybe, if I had a sample of his DNA from prior to when he was exposed to the dark matter," Caitlin mused. She shook her head. "But I can't even guarantee that that's going to work." She held up the syringe she pinched between her fingers. "I can only try to get him back to where he'll be able to at least hold his normal form."

"Well, for now, we should lock him in the pipeline," Barry suggested.

Caitlin's eyes widened at the suggestion. Hers weren't the only one, but she was the first one to speak out against Barry's suggestion. "But he hasn't done anything," she cried. Caitlin placed her hands on her hips, making sure to keep the syringe from sticking her. "I'm a doctor, I took an oath. I can't just leave him in there like…" She searched for the perfect word. "Spaghetti."

Ralph whimpered once more.

Everyone ignored him.

"So did I," Cadence reminded her. "I took that same oath and the pipeline is the best place for him. It's meta dampening, the best way to at least have him hold his shape before we can actually get him back together for good." She reached out and poked Ralph's arm, wincing when it squished under her finger tip, as if there were no bones in it. "Or, at least have him control it."

"You want to leave him down here?" Iris asked. "Like a prisoner?"

"It's not a prison if its keeping him safe," Cadence declared. She made a gesture with her head. "Put him in there."

"Yes, ma'am," Brady replied, giving a salute. Barry looked at him. "What?" He asked defensively, looking absolutely confused with all the looks that were turning his way. He pressed a finger to his lips, eyebrows coming together. "She's the boss, right?"

"Making the wrong decision," Caitlin insisted.

Barry sighed heavily. He reached up his hands, scrubbing his fingers over his face. "I don't understand why you're trying to keep your buddy safe, why you're defending him."

"He's not my buddy, he's my patient," Caitlin said with bite. Her eyes flashed, quickly turning an icy blue that it seemed only Cadence noticed. She stalked out of the medical bay with the rest of Team Flash following her, ignoring Ralph as he called for them to come back, releasing his grasp on Barry as they did so. When Caitlin was sure they were alone, she continued. "And because I know what it's like to suddenly find yourself with extraordinary powers and to be totally freaked out by it. And so do you, for that matter!" She gestured toward Wally and Jesse. "And so do the both of you!" She addressed Barry once more. "You and I both woke up in this lab once knowing our lives would never be the same. So how about you give the guy a little sympathy?"

"Stick him with the Lorazepam and put him in the Pipeline," Cadence declared. She held up her hand when Caitlin opened her mouth to protest. "We don't know how long it's going to take to get him back to the way he is and we can't have him sitting here hearing everything that's going on and figuring out our identities. As far as the public knows, STAR Labs isn't open to anything but the potential Museum we're still putting together. Until we figure things out, it's the best for him."

"If that's what we're going to do, then we should try and see what it was with those guys that were after him in the launder mat," Joe suggested. He looked to Barry pointedly. "If you can keep your cool for a little while."

Barry shrugged but didn't respond. He simply continued to watch Caitlin as she turned on her heel and stormed off to do as she was told. Cisco quickly went after her. Iris appeared torn for a moment before excusing herself to get back to work.

Cadence looked at Jesse and Wally. "Training's done for the day," she said to them. She looked at her phone as it started to ring. "I have to go."

"Where are you going?" Joe asked.

"I've got someone I'm meeting with," Cadence replied. "To get more answers about the Meta Hit List."

* * *

Cadence stepped into the Saints and Sinners bar, heading directly toward the back, finding him slouched over a seat. She stepped up to his side. "I was wondering if you were going to show up," she said, leaning against him. She locked eyes with the bartender and made a gesture, briefly pointing to the closest tap to her.

Stratos lifted his eyebrows, staring down at the bar counter. "I was wondering when you'd stop stalking me," he remarked. He leaned forward, huddling against the bar. His bloodshot eyes blinked slowly as they worked to fixate on her, but when they did, she knew he had his attention.

"It's not stalking, Lucas, when I know exactly where you're going at every second of the day." Cadence reminded him. She shrugged, picking up the beer glass pushed to her and took a long sip. She licked the foam off her lips. "Humans are creatures of habit," she said, throwing the words he'd said at the start of her tenure with the Assassination Bureau back to him.

The side of his mouth turned up, clearly getting the reference. Then he leaned back, rapping his knuckles on the tabletop. "Lucas, huh? When did you stop calling me, Stratos?"

"Since Breathtaker was defeated. Just like you can start calling me Cadence, instead of Brigade."

"I don't think we're going that far." Stratos reached up a hand and rubbed at his eyes. He leaned in even further, looking back and forth. It was then Cadence noticed his knees bouncing up and down, his fingers bumping together as he wrung his hands together, the way his eyes kept darting towards the door and the windows whenever someone would enter the bar. In short, he looked nervous about something, or someone, coming after him. "I should go."

"Why so soon?"

"It's not safe."

Cadence shook her head. "Breathtaker isn't—"

"—This doesn't have to do with Breathtaker! _You're_ not safe, either. None of us are. Not with that Hitman out there."

"You heard about the list?"

"What list?"

Stratos stared at her for a long moment.

At first, Cadence thought he was joking, but remembered he hadn't been around for a while. Had been off the grid. It was harder for her to find him let alone any of the other people that she'd ever had to track down before. Even if she knew he was more than likely to end up at Saints and Sinners, it didn't mean that he was going to be there. Though with how drunk he already was by the time of her arrival, it was only a matter of time until he showed up.

"You don't know about the Meta Hit List?" Cadence asked slowly, then used her powers to determine whether he was lying when he responded.

Stratos shook his head, reaching out his hand to run through his short-cropped hair. "I don't know anything about some list. All I know is the Hitman isn't going to stop until he gets all of us. I know you've been following me, but you haven't been the only one. No matter where I go, the Hitman eventually finds me. He's found some of the others."

"_What _are you talking about?" Cadence shook her head. She leaned closer to him and said quickly, quietly so that her words wouldn't trail over to the others that had entered the bar. "There's this list. All of us are on it. All of us metas that have been in the public eye. And some others. There's a bounty over our heads, we're worth a lot of money to be captured dead or alive."

Stratos stood from the bar stool and stumbled his way over to a pool table. At the last second, he almost fell, aiming to smack his forehead against the side of the pool table, he let out a low breath and visibly blew himself up into a upright position so that he could place his hands on the pool table.

"So that's what Hitman wants," he muttered.

"Who's Hitman?"

Stratos shrugged. "He wouldn't be much of a hit man if anyone knew who he was or what he looked like on a daily basis." His head rolled on his shoulders. "Don't you remember anything we did with Breathtaker?"

"That was different."

"Was it?"

Cadence pressed her lips together. Killing people for money. The only difference was, at the beginning, she hadn't known what she was doing. She was just making delivers and getting money for it. And then…she was right there along with the rest of them. _I guess the biggest difference is how much money we got from it, _she thought. _Hundreds of millions of dollars would make anyone think twice of what they'd do._

"The only difference this time around, is that they're going after metas, rather than the normal people." Stratos cleared his throat. He suddenly sounded clearer than he had when she first arrived. His words stopped being slurred and his eyes were focused. "Which, I guess, is exactly what this city wants. We've got a chief of police who wants metas eradicated and a presidential candidate who wants the same. Why should we be surprised that metas are now being targeted even more than before? Why should we stay safe?"

"Do you think the Assassination Bureau is going to be targeted specifically?" Cadence asked slowly. "It was only a matter of time before we were found out, before we were connected to Breathtaker." She also didn't mention it was only a matter of time until all the reports on Iris's blog may be more of a hurt than help.

It hadn't helped at the beginning, where anything she wrote for The Streak made it harder for Barry to keep his identity a secret. Nevertheless, it had turned out to be helpful, something that the city looked to, to get answers that the media or other avenues wouldn't give them. The more Breathtaker was mentioned, the easier it would be to link them together.

"Can't say for sure." Stratos reached over and grabbed Cadence's beer, finishing it off in a long gulp. He slammed the glass onto the felt of the pool table, frowning when he saw the droplets that had splashed up. With a wave of his hand, he air dried the droplets, sending the pool balls shooting and spinning across the felt before they fell into the pockets, clearing the table. "But there's been some metas who've already been taken down. If you're telling the truth about the hit list, then the Hitman has made a cool sum of money. It won't be much longer until you and your team are the next targets, if not by him, then by someone else."

"They've already tried," Cadence said slowly. She curled her fingers around the side of the pool table, the wood warming beneath her hands. "They've tried to take out me and Barry already."

Stratos shook his head, shoulders slumping forward. The light disappeared from his eyes. "There's more than that coming." He shook his head and started toward the door. Cadence followed him, coming to a stop outside the bar. He looked toward the sky, as if planning his path of escape from her. "Whatever time I have left, I'm going to spend it with my daughter. And I recommend you do the same with your son."

_Crack._

Something split the sidewalk in half, the ensuing power from the blast knocked the two apart. Cadence landed hard on the ground, bringing up her hands to cover her face as dust settled around her. She looked around, blocking out the sounds of the citizens of the street, screaming loudly as they ran.

Flipping her hair out of her face, Cadence spotted a tall, dark man standing in the middle of the street holding what looked like a bazooka over his shoulder. A lit cigarette tucked in the corner of his mouth completed the look. He grinned around the cigarette at her. "If I wanted to shoot you the first time, I wouldn't have missed."

Stratos flipped himself to his feet. He looked between the two before racing off in a whirlwind. The man shrugged and looked back to Cadence. "You're higher up on the list. I didn't expect to run into you so soon, but that's a high bounty on your head. For good reason."

Cadence stood and flicked her head to the side. The one moment made the end of the man's cigarette ignite and cause a ball of flame to plume in his face at the same time he fired off another, smaller gun toward her. She easily deflected the bullet coming toward her and faced the man once more. All before she heard a light _ting _and felt a sharp pain in the back of her thigh that knocked her to her knees.

Looking over her shoulder, Cadence quickly figured out what'd happened. The man had shot _toward _her, but not _at _her. He'd shot directly toward the doorframe of the Saints and Sinners bar, where the bullet hit the handle and ricocheted off to strike her in the leg.

A bait and switch.

But he didn't know she could heal herself. Cadence focused on pushing the bullet out of her leg—which hurt more coming out than going in—and looked back toward the man that'd attacked her, deducing it was Hitman.

His glasses had flown off with the force of the fireball before him. They skittered across the asphalt. He glared at her and Cadence gasped, stepping back. She expected a lot of things; burning eyes, blazing eyes, eyes filled with color. But not eyes that were completely black, an inky black that took all the whites away and left nothing to comfort the person looking at them.

It unnerved her. More than unnerved, shocked her; scared her to the point that she immediately turned and launched out an attack. She punched forward, a stream of fire coming from her fist that slowly, yet surely, turned into a bolt of lightning. A bolt of lightning that crackled and crawled out from her hand and across the street, crashing to the ground in front of him, filling the street with smoke.

He was gone when the smoke dissipated, giving Cadence the chance to bask in what she'd just done. She raised her hand, looking at it in surprise.

It was the first time that she'd ever created lightning, let alone had been able to through it. Lowering her hand, Cadence turned back to Barry—Flash—noticing him staring at her, eyes wide behind his cowl. He must've arrived as soon as the first attack went out. The citizens of Central City were quicker to call for help from Team Flash sooner than later.

Cadence folded her arms. "Tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."

Barry nodded in agreement.

* * *

**A/N: **And, finally, the first look at Hitman. At least there's some more explanation on that, and what he can do. It definitely doesn't help with that going on and the Bus Metas being a thing. DeVoe has a big point in the next chapter. I had to re-watch some bits of season 4 of The Flash to really get an idea of how to have things interweave and now I've got it!

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Yep, that was DeVoe's voice in his head. Yes, Mayor Bellows is going to prison soon. There's going to be some changes to some things, of course, but he'll be there when Barry's there.


	28. An Enlightened Conversation

**27**

_An Enlightened Conversation_

* * *

Harrison glanced down at the 'Welcome' mat that sat on the front porch of the nice suburban home then looked to Tess with a raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "Like we don't have a Welcome mat at our place," she said to him. Reaching out, she pressed her finger against the doorbell by the door and waited for someone to answer it. "Sure, ours is made from the finest threads you can find in China,"—Harrison nodded—"at _someone's _insistence." She rolled her eyes when Harrison grinned at her.

The door opened and Marlize DeVoe took a step back, looking at the two with mild surprise. "Oh!" She brushed her hair back with both hands before smoothing down the sides of her floral dress. "I didn't expect any company today." She looked between the two. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we heard that DeVoe had called out sick," Tess explained. She nodded toward Harrison. "And my husband was slated to cover his class, which he did well, I might add." Harrison's lips pulled back into a smile. "Though I have to be the one to say it or else Harrison's ego will get even bigger if he said so himself."

"Bright minds can't help but give themselves an ego," Harrison replied. He smiled when Marlize nodded. "We decided that we would drop by and see how he was doing, with the thought that what is ailing him isn't contagious."

"No! Of course not! With his illness, sometimes he can be too tired to leave the house." Marlize looked over her shoulder for a moment. "But I'm sure he'd be thrilled to know his colleagues at the university are looking out for his best interest." She stepped back and allowed Harrison and Tess to enter the immaculately kept house. "Can I offer you anything to drink?"

"No, we don't plan on staying long," Tess replied. "But thank you."

Marlize nodded and headed toward the living room. "Clifford?" She called as she went. "Clifford, Tess and Harrison have dropped by to see how you're doing." She walked over to the wheelchair parked in front of the TV and sat next to her husband, gently nudging his arm. DeVoe lifted his head from the pillow tucked between his head and neck and looked over at Harrison and Tess.

The corners of his lips slowly very imperceptibly turned up. "Yes, our friends," he said. Marlize motioned for the two to sit as Clifford got himself comfortable. "I apologize for not being able to attend class today, this illness…" he gestured toward his legs. "It's like being trapped inside my own body." His lips twitched back down to the neutral line it habitually was. "Some days I wish I could get up and run…then I remember the life I was given." He blinked over at Tess. "I'm sure you know how I feel."

Tess lifted an eyebrow, the warm smile never leaving her face. Nevertheless, her blue eyes turned icy. "Are you referring to my accident?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I remember hearing about it. It was a terrible day when Central City University thought they'd lost Professor Tess Morgan. Even more of a shame of what she could have done to help further STAR Labs to the glory it could have been." His eyes flickered toward Harrison. "I wondered when you would come to see me. When your…_memories _would bring you to me." He looked at his empty wrist, mockingly.

"Clifford," Marlize said in warning.

"I'm just postulating that the mind-meld Harrison had with Eobard should have kept him with his memories," Clifford remarked. He pressed his hand to the side of his face, blinking as he watched Harrison and Tess before him. They stood stock still, doing their best not to look at each other, confirming his words. Clifford's tiny smile turned into a smirk with only the slightest movement of his lips. "Yes, I know bout that as well. You see, I know a lot about you, the people you surround yourselves with, and what everything is thinking all within a second. And I bet you're thinking, right now, how could I have known about the mind-meld?"

"That's exactly what I _was_ wondering," Harrison replied with an amused smile. "The ability to share thoughts, experiences, memories, and knowledge with another individual, especially in a limited form of telepathy isn't something that people readily know about. Or can prove. Or study."

"Yes, but you have to have a special mind to think that something most would only know from _Star Trek_ would be possible with what has happened since the Particle Accelerator explosion," DeVoe explained. He reached up and tapped at his temple. "And there's always the interesting little fact that you haven't gone to any lengths to deny it. Which just makes me wonder what made you want to come here today." He rolled forward, keeping his gaze on the couple. "I seem to remember when the accelerator was going to go off. You were giving a speech about the change in physics that you were about to bring."

Harrison slowly nodded.

"And you were asked the first thing you'd do once the accelerator went on," Marlize agreed. She smiled, gently shaking her head. "I remember that night."

Harrison smiled. His blue eyes shifted toward the ceiling then lowered when he gave a modest chuckle. "I'd crack open an expensive bottle of Dom Perignon with my staff, because I ride them very hard and they've earned it." He recited then nodded to Marlize. "And you'd asked me—"

"—Those protesting the accelerator believe it could open a black hole in central city," she replied, the warm and inviting persona immediately vanished. Taking its place was an expression that bordered on aggression. "But is it more likely to trigger a benevolent phenomenon like a Higgs boson bridge?"

"I calculated every detail, every decimal point." Harrison said.

"And yet, it still went off."

"That's correct."

"Just as Thawne wanted. Just as _you _wanted." DeVoe clenched his hand into a fist. "That night, you told me 'Good luck' on my endeavors. That I'd have an enormous impact on the future. A comment like that hadn't registered with me at the time. I only had the simple notion to go off; that you wanted the fallout to happen, to release the dark matter into the air, into Central City."

"Just as you wanted the wave of dark matter to come out of the speed force and onto the Bus Metas," Tess remarked. She watched DeVoe and Marlize, surprised to find that they didn't deny it, didn't even seem surprised to know they'd figured it out. "The only thing we can't figure out is why."

DeVoe shook his head. "I guess this is the time where I give you that piece of my backstory that will aid you on the information you came here seeking. Well, I assure you it's a very boring story; I grew up in South Africa. And after studying history and econometrics and at the history of Johannesburg, I took a teaching position at Oxford. But it took a tenured teaching position at Central City University to lure me away from Oxford. That was…four, almost five years ago." He tapped his chin. "Isn't that around the time of the Particle Accelerator explosion? That was a very interesting night."

Harrison nodded, grinning as he gently bit his lower lip. His eyes flickered away from DeVoe then back again. "Nice painting."

DeVoe followed his gaze and nodded. "The samurai. They were formidable foes; they often make unstoppable enemies to their opponents. Always getting better to ensure they're able to be the best." He waved a hand. "The feudal history of Medieval Japan is one of my areas of expertise. You see, I love teaching. It gives me the opportunity to broaden perspectives. But you can't just inspire people to be better. Sometimes you need to change the way people think."

"So you went about and changed the way you thought," Tess remarked. "And used the Particle Accelerate explosion to…maximize your intelligence."

"And it was that intelligence that made it so that I'm not the smartest mind alive, the fastest. I can perceive things and thoughts that others can't, even before the thought even forms in the synapses of the brain. Past, present, future, I know every outcome of every interaction that is to come. My vast knowledge encompasses things that don't even seem possible."

"Like the mind-meld," Harrison remarked.

"Precisely." Clifford sucked in a sharp breath. "I have to admit, I was surprised to understand your words, as Eobard knew of what it was, I was capable of doing, but only in a certain context of certain timelines. A timeline I'm sure no longer exists. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I'm telling you everything without an ounce of denial."

"The thought did cross the mind," Harrison said.

"Well, Harrison, it's because I have nothing to lose. There no reason for me to deny the questions you're going to ask me or what you may accuse me of. Because there's no way for me to be defeated, to be stopped. Just as there was nothing that could be done to keep you…_Eobard _from succeeding with his plans. Eobard has been defeated, but there's still a part of him that's been imprinted on you because of the mind-meld, you have his memories, his thoughts, his feelings. And that's why you've distanced yourself from STAR Labs and Barry Allen. Because you don't want the hatred that Eobard has placed within you to harm him in any way."

Tess glanced at her husband, curious to know how he felt about his well-kept secret being exposed so easily. Nothing changed within Harrison's face, he simply continued to watch DeVoe as DeVoe watched him. A meeting of the strongest minds.

"But don't you feel that his greatest mentor being taken away from him has harmed him enough?" DeVoe taunted.

Harrison ran his thumb over his fingertips. "What's your endgame? What are you hoping to achieve from all of this?"

DeVoe glanced at Marlize, who smiled back at him. He shrugged. "I just hope it's as enlightening as I dreamed it would be."

* * *

Barry's stomach growled when he and Cadence walked into Central City Confections, seconds before it was replaced with a distant, sad memory. His parents had gone to the same place to get their wedding cake made years ago. He hadn't expected it to hit him that quickly, or again, how they weren't going to be there for the wedding. That they wouldn't be there for one of the biggest days of his life.

As it was, he couldn't completely focus on the slices of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pies that sat in the display cases around the store. He could only look over his shoulders as he and Cadence sat down after explaining to the shop assistant what they were there for. Barry brought up a hand to rub at his neck, feeling all the tension that sat in his muscles, muscles that then felt like rocks while he tried to keep in mind that he could be murdered the second he walked out the front door.

Not that it wasn't a possibility before; with Thawne, Zoom, Savitar, and whomever was sending the Samuroids after him there was always the chance of him being killed within the flash of a speedster's lightning trail. But knowing there was something else, _someone else _who made his living off taking other people's lives…it literally meant anyone around them was in danger. Even the shop assistant, who beamed—albeit shyly—at them from behind the register.

"Do you know her?" Cadence asked, nodding to the shop assistant. Shaking his head, Barry followed her gaze, taking in the girls' long hair, paler skin, and hazel eyes.

"She does look familiar," Barry agreed. He wracked his brain, trying and failing to figure out where it was, he would've seen her before. Something about her face was just so familiar. Almost creepily so. "I don't know. Have we saved her, or something?"

"No, I'd remember…" Cadence trailed off. Barry took in a deep breath, knowing what she meant.

He remembered everyone that they'd saved…that they'd lost. And it wasn't just because they were heroes for the city, but due to their own sense of justice and how badly they wanted to help other people. Or maybe it was the guilt, remembering those they _couldn't _save and striving to do better so they could save the next one.

"Hi!" The shop assistant walked back to the table once more, clutching a pad of paper to her chest. "I'm sorry for the wait, the chef will be out to help you soon. He's had another large order that he's been working on. Something about the Mayor…" She trailed off, shaking her hand. "Anyway, do you want to try some samples of the cupcakes before your tasting starts! Check out this new one we just started!" She went to the counter and came back before Barry or Cadence could politely turn her down. "We call it the Fresh Flash!"

She placed an immaculate looking cupcake in the middle of the table, big enough for the two of them to share. From looking at it, Barry could see it was a vanilla base on the cupcake, and on top was a swirl of red and yellow frosting with a white fondant lightning bolt in the shape of his logo on top.

"Wow," Cadence said, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "That's really good!"

"It was my idea," the girl replied, clasping her hands behind her back. "I know Jitters does this thing where they give the villains their own drinks, too, but I wanted to do a hero thing here." She started to count off on her fingers. "We've got the Fresh Flash, the Funky Flare, the Very Berry Vibe, the Juicy Jesse Quick with a jelly filling, the King Kid Flash, and the Scrumptious Shadowhunter."

Cadence snorted quietly at the last name, making Barry smile, and quickly hide it, not wanting to offend the girl. He cleared his throat, leaning forward at the table. "Can we try the Funky Flare, too?"

"Of course!" She hurried behind the display then came back with a blood orange based cupcake with a dark red, almost maroon frosting, and a red fondant double F sitting back to back that was her logo on top. "It doesn't sell as much as the Flash, but…" she shrugged. "I think it's good."

Barry laughed one more, noticing Cadence's lower jaw shift to the side with light annoyance. He smiled teasingly at her, making her mime flicking frosting at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" The girl practically gushed in response. She opened her mouth to say something else, only stopping when the chef came out from the back of the shop.

"Alexis, how many times have I told you to stop harassing our customers?" The chef said, coming over to her. He swatted her on the arm and motioned for her to go back to the counter. "I have an order of sourdough that needs to be proofed, can you get that ready, please?"

Alexis smiled sheepishly before scurrying to the back.

"I'm sorry if she bothered you fine folks," The chef said with a tiny apologetic lean toward them. "She can be a little too energetic."

"Oh, it's okay," Barry replied. "She wasn't bothering us."

"Well, please let me know if anything isn't to your satisfaction. I'm David Devereaux." He reached out and shook their hands. "And I understand you're here for a cake tasting. For your upcoming wedding. But I like to make sure I truly get to know the couple I'm helping to make the best day, so, how'd you two meet?" His eyes shifted expectantly between the two.

A wicked gleam came to Cadence's eye. Even with Barry's speed, he wasn't fast enough to stop her. "I was trying to kill him," Cadence said casually.

All at once, the blood drained from Barry's face. He looked to the chef, who stared back at her with bug-eyes. He chuckled nervously and looked to Barry for clarification or, hopefully, a sign she was joking. Barry briefly glared at her before explaining, "We both work for the CCPD. That's where we met." It wasn't exactly a lie, but he didn't have to know that for sure.

"Oh! Okay." The chef was visibly relieved. "That makes a lot of sense. I'm sure the stress of the job makes it easier for jokes like that to come about. Especially with the metahuman business that's been going on the past couple of years." He waved his hands. "But this is about your day, and we're going to make it as perfect as it can be." He whipped out a notepad. "Now, I just need to know a few things like the date, venue, guest count…"

And for the next half hour Barry and Cadence went through the logistics of their wedding. The most time, Barry realized with a pang of sadness, that they'd talked about it since he'd returned from the Speed Force. They went over the wedding style, whether they wanted flowers, if the cake was to be made with fondant or buttercream. If it was supposed to be simple or ornate. Their theme, how they wanted the cake presented, if they had a cake topper they were going to use or if they needed one provided. Everything under the sun that Barry had never thought about before.

"And we need to know your budget—"

"—There is no budget," Cadence explained, almost impatiently. "My mom's paying for it."

"Okay." The chef blinked rapidly at her change in tone. "Well, that's all the information we need right now, we'll get you started on some of our taste samples. These are the regular chocolate and vanilla with our exotic accents…" he passed a tray of cake slices from the counter behind him onto the table between the two metahumans then left the floor to help another customer who came in, allowing them some privacy.

Barry took a piece of the cake closest to him and nearly gagged. Vanilla and coconut. The coconut was too strong and, honestly, he didn't know why anyone would want to have that as a cake flavor. That is, unless it was a destination wedding. Cadence tried one and made a face.

"Was it the coconut one?" He asked.

"Now, this is like a pineapple," she replied, dabbing at her mouth. She pointed with her chin to their two slices. "I think they should've put those two flavors together, pineapple coconut. Feels very Hawaiian."

"Maybe we should've thought of Hawaii for our wedding," he suggested. "Get out of Central City for a while."

"You mean you're not tired of the constant death threats all over the place?" She replied. She let out a quiet sigh, shaking her head. "I used to think Central City was a safe place, but now I don't really know how much longer I want to live here. Or, want to keep Brady here."

"Do you mean because of Hitman or the anti-meta measures?"

"Both, though Hitman is a little more worrying at this point." Cadence lowered her voice, looking around the shop before continuing. "It's not that he knows what we look like and our identities that's the worst part. It's that there are other people that are working with him, other men and women who are trying to get that bounty to kill us for a life changing amount of money. And we don't know who those people are. They could be anti-meta or working with Lex as far as we know." She thought for a moment. "Even the person behind the Samuroids."

"We still don't know where that's coming from yet," Barry replied. He took in a deep breath, steadying himself to reveal the one thing that he hadn't quite been able to say before. "I think they're two different people. And, I think they're going after us specifically." Cadence's eyebrows twitched upwards. She took another bite of cake, bobbing her head with that one. "No good?"

"Minty," she replied. "Not my favorite."

"Are you kidding?" His eyes widened. "I love mint. I was going to suggest it." Her nose wrinkled. "You can't go wrong with chocolate and mint."

"Barry, I want my wedding cake to be a cake. A dessert. Not like I'm going to brush my teeth." She used her finger and scraped the rest of the piece off her fork and back onto the plate, pushing the sample aside to start another one. "What's that one?"

"Pistachio," Barry agreed. "Not _bad _but…doesn't really stand out either." He went back to the previous conversation topic. "The Samuroids are after me, and they only attack the rest of you when waiting for me. And the Hitman has only ever attacked when you're around. He hasn't attacked me unless you were with me."

Cadence slowly nodded. "Do you think these may be someone we know?"

"Who?"

"Hitman. Maybe it's someone we've put away before and now they're getting revenge?"

Barry leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand as he thought about it. He twirled his fork around his fingers, picking up speed as he thought about it. "We have a database on everyone we've ever put away. No one we know has the ability to build a Samuroid as sophisticated as the ones that've come after us." He paused.

Cadence cocked an eyebrow. "What about Hartley?"

"You think he would build something like the Samuroids?"

"To figure out your power set and continue to make more and more machines that can ultimately defeat you?" Cadence's words were pointed. "Doesn't that sound petty enough for Hartley to do?" Barry nodded. She had a point. "There's always something everyone is capable of. It may take more for other people to get to that point, but everyone is capable of something."

"Okay, let's say it was Hartley, why would he want to do that? To keep building stronger and stronger machines to defeat me?"

Cadence shrugged. "Hartley has powers, sure, but his powers only seem to work when they were siphoned through his gloves, remember?" Barry nodded. He remembered how Hartley had wanted to take revenge on Dr. Wells and Team Flash and they'd used the surrounding cars' stereo systems to take him down. "And fashioned his own hearing aid to keep from being affected by his powers. He can take on the task of finding something that will defeat you, or any other meta, and…let's say, sell that information to the government. To the black market?"

"What happened when you went to see Amunet?" Barry asked.

She shook her head, finishing a swallow of a piece of chocolate cake. Her eyes widened, pulling the slice closer to her. "Didn't get much answers. Amunet runs the Black Market, but she doesn't always know what goes through it. Anything of interest toward her is something she'd be directly interested in. You think Breathtaker would've kept her around for long if it wasn't that she was able to get us some of the information we needed."

"She could probably use this information. I'd try looking there again."

She laughed. "You're actually telling me to go back to Amunet?"

He laughed as well. How many times had they wanted to work with the people they were trying to take down? But, at the same time, Amunet had something that Team Flash didn't, and that was answers, information. The knowledge of things they wouldn't have thought was possible, despite all the impossible things they'd ever seen. And that was dangerous than having any power, there was a reason the CCPD hadn't been able to take her down throughout the years she'd been working underground in Central City.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

"Do you think we should go through with it?"

"What?" Barry leaned back as the chef came to their table to take the tray from them and replace it with another. This time the cakes were more citrusy and fruit flavors. Better tasting than the first few but still nothing compared to his minty preference. "Going to Amunet?"

"No." She paused. "Do you think we should go through with the wedding?" Barry gaped back at her. She played around with her fork. "I'm not saying to cancel it all together, it just seems like there's a lot going on right now. Like," she shook her head. "Like we've got some bad luck or something." She shrugged. "If you believe in that sort of thing."

Barry leaned back in his seat, watching her for a long moment. He had his own worries about it, sure. They hadn't had a lot of time to really think about it because of his going into the Speed Force and her becoming the leader of Team Flash in his absence. And since his coming _out _of the Speed Force, everything suddenly came back all at once with no time for him to breathe; Savitar's presence, the Samuroids, the Hit List, Hitman, Abra Kadabra, all of it at once.

Maybe they _were _having some bad luck.

"Do you not want to get married?"

He asked the question slowly, gauging her reaction as the words came from his mouth. The same thought had crossed his mind in the seconds after Cadence had said 'no' when he proposed to her. That he had mistaken everything, that, maybe, they weren't supposed to be together the way he felt, the way he _knew _they were supposed to be. He didn't want to end up like Earth-2 Barry, who pined quietly after Burnout, who was lost to him then and, after her sacrifice to take down Savitar, was now permanently lost to him.

Cadence looked startled. Then smiled the same smile she'd given Barry when they met. A smile that, for a short while after the truth of her agenda came out, he wasn't sure if it was genuine. Until he knew for sure. There weren't many moments where he didn't trust her or find her to be genuine, even when she was tasked with killing him. "You mean everything to me, Barry. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. I _want_ to marry you. I just don't know if it's worth it to put everyone in danger."

"Maybe it's all worth it?" Barry reminded her. "We have a team full of people who are willing to go out there and risk their lives to protect each other and the city. And we want to celebrate our day with all those people we care about. If something happens, we can just go to the courthouse."

"Aww, you'd go to the courthouse for me?" Cadence teased.

"I don't care where we get married, or when or how, I just want you to know that I'm always going to be your partner. In life in the field…wherever. I love you."

"I love you, too." Cadence leaned across the table and Barry met her halfway, giving her a sweet kiss. "But you know my mom would never let us get married in a courthouse, right?" She reached across the table and swiped out the incoming call on her phone. "She'd kill you." She took a big bite of chocolate cake and smiled, dancing in her seat as she chewed. "She loves you, but she'd kill you."

"I know, I know." Barry shook his head. "I don't think _my _mom would let me get married in a courthouse. She'd haunt me for the rest of my life if I even thought about it." He tried a piece of cake and nearly gagged. "I'm vetoing coffee."

"Aww, all those drinks at Jitters and you don't want a coffee wedding cake?"

"Do _you _want Brady and Connor running around with a caffeine high?"

Cadence laughed. "It's a party. I don't think having some rambunctious kids will hurt anything. It might make it even better!" Her eyes flashed with mirth. "I invited Connor, Leah, Alicia…"

That made sense. Most, if not all of the CCPD had been invited and if Chief Paulson was going to go, then there was a good chance that Alicia would attend as well. A sense of worry over their ideals with metas and Chief Paulson's did come to mind, in case the wrong conversation came up in conversation at the reception. "Speaking of Connor…I invited Oliver to my bachelor party—"

"—Is he or Cisco your best man? Aren't they supposed to worry about the guest list for your bachelor party?"

Barry had the grace to blush, ducking his head, focusing on the next option to try before him. Jelly. No. "I…haven't decided yet. Cisco's been my best friend since I met him. But Oliver's been my mentor and has really helped me as the Flash. But Wally could do a good job, too…" he trailed off, resting his chin in his hand. "Maybe I'll have Iris be my best man." He changed the subject. "But because I invited Oliver to the party, I'm a little worried to how he'll be around Connor."

"You mean you're worried how _I'll _be around Connor," Cadence replied. She shook her head. "Look, I didn't mean to be so harsh about him, I didn't mean what I said. I'm just mad at Oliver. He sent Connor away to protect him? Abandoning your son doesn't sound like protection to me."

"Yeah, but to some people, having him fight like a superhero isn't protection either," Barry reminded her. She pursed her lips, obvious getting his point. "And I knew what you meant. You care about Connor and it's hard for you not to act like you're his mom because, as long as he's here, you're looking after him. And you're _not _his parent. Oliver is. You're both doing what you can to take care of your families in the ways you know how."

"You're right," Cadence agreed. "And it's not like I would've said 'no'. It's hard to lose a parent, especially as young as Connor is since Sam died and it being tied to you, I understand why Oliver would send him here. Darkh went after him specifically, because of Oliver. Anyone else could do the same thing."

"Connor doesn't just have Oliver. He's got Felicity, too." Cadence snorted. "I know you don't get along, but she's part of their lives. It's not like you can ignore her."

"I can try."

Barry grimaced, rapidly poking at this cake. "Uh, then…would it be a mood killer if I said I invited her to your bachelorette party?" Cadence stared at him. "It slipped out! She called once day and we were talking and I mentioned the party and I thought she had been invited. I'm sorry." He shrugged. "But, maybe it's a good thing it she does come. We're celebrating with everyone right? We already sent them the Save the Dates."

"And we sent one to Mick, too." Cadence gave a funny look. "I'm still trying to figure out why we thought _that _was a good idea."

Barry grimaced. "Yeah, you have a point there."

"She can come if she wants. Whatever." Cadence thought for a moment. "I guess this means I'd have to invite Killer Frost, too."

Barry sucked in a deep breath, let it out as slowly. Part of him understood Cadence's hesitation of having Caitlin back on the team when Caitlin—Killer Frost—had done so much against them with Savitar. But he knew it wasn't Caitlin. Knew it was her fear of everything that was happening to her that spurred her forward, that it was the part of her she couldn't control that was doing those things. Just as Savitar was a part of him—was supposed to _be _him—that had done everything due to the hurt he and betrayal he was feeling over a life that had been ripped away from him.

He could forgive her, _had _forgiven her.

Had hoped Cadence would've been able to do the same.

"I thought you already invited Caitlin."

"I did, ages ago…" Sadness crept into Cadences eyes. "I had thought she was going to be my maid of honor then, too, but…" she trailed off, shrugging. "Things change." She took another bite of cake and spat it out. "Ew. We're not doing chocolate-orange, either."

"I still think we should do the Mint Chocolate—"

"—We're not doing mint," Cadence interrupted. "And we're not doing carrot cake, either."

Barry nodded and lifted his hand, prompting Cadence to give him a high-five. He smiled across the table at her. No matter what, even if they weren't on the same page of their thoughts and ideas with how to move forward with something, they were still partners. Still a team.

"I'm sorry to bother you fine folks," The chef said, looking at the two with barely concealed annoyance and contempt. "But we're closing so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Startled, Barry and Cadence looked up and saw that the early afternoon sunlight had been traded for the darkness of night. Who knew eating cake for hours could go by so quickly? "Have you made a decision on the cake you want?"

"Oh, uh sorry. I think we'll be going with the…" Barry blindly reached for the table and picked up the cake late that Cadence pushed toward him. He read the label. "Vanilla Lemonade Red Velvet cake." He made a face, looked at Cadence out of the corner of his eye whose expression mimicked his, and smiled back at the chef.

The chef's eyebrows rose in surprise, a light coming to his eyes. "That's a new recipe we were trying. Risky for a wedding cake, but with your theme, it should go perfectly! I'll have your cake drawn up and give you a call wen it's done." He took the empty tray and walked off, allowing Barry and Cadence to quickly leave the shop, apologizing to the chef as they went.

Once outside, Cadence looped her arm through Barry's, grasping his hand as she leaned against him. Barry smiled and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, squeezing her hand in his. They strolled along the streets of Central City, finding it to be one of the most peaceful nights they'd had in a long time. One of the most peaceful nights _Central City _had in a long time. There were no screams, no pounding footsteps, nothing breaking, no maniacal laughter from whatever villain that was trying to take them down.

Nothing but the sounds of the nightlife in Central City. Something they would've typically listened to from the fire escape outside the window of their apartment, but finally had the chance to experience it for themselves without having to race into their suits and save someone.

Cadence didn't speak until they were far from the confections shop. "Do you remember what that one tasted like? The Lemonade Vanilla one?"

Barry laughed. "I don't remember what half of them taste like."

* * *

**A/N:** So this chapter with DeVoe, also was able to give me the chance to explain more about Harrison having had Eobard inside him and how the mind-meld can really work to advantage and disadvantage, especially with the amount of time and the circumstances that a mind-med would work. And give more into crafting DeVoe to be as sinister and mysterious as Harrison and Tess could be.

I also haven't done a chapter like this between Barry and Cadence since their first (actually second) date at the bar. So, it was fun to revisit something like this again and show at least a humorous point of the wedding planning that's still going on despite their worries.

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Cade isn't part of the Strength Force because her strength is the basis of her powers, her fire powers are. Stratos was the one who initially recruited Cade into the Assassination Bureau and in many ways she thought of him as her friend despite everything that'd been going on, so with Mindboggler, Incognito, and Breathtaker dead, she does tend to worry about him in some ways.

**DarkHelm145: **I never said Lobo wasn't going to show up ;). He just wanted my first choice as I found Hitman first, and it made more sense for it to be him, compared to Lobo, with what I have planned. In all honestly, I found Hitman before I found Lobo. But upon finding Lobo, I can still fit him in and have the story make sense.


	29. Pushing The Limit

**28**

_Pushing The Limit_

* * *

Barry let out a quiet sigh, looking to the panel that sat on just the outside of the Pipeline cell. Part of him felt more guilt than he'd ever experienced, knowing an otherwise innocent man was sitting inside. But a part of him knew it was the best option if they were going to get some answers. And if they were sure they'd be able to have Ralph brought back to some sort of normalcy.

It wouldn't be good for him—or anyone else—if he started to flop around Central City. Not only would it scare those that got too close to him to see the way his flesh bent and weaved—it wouldn't just be Joe who'd puke—but then there were those that would immediately try to capture him and take him away to do…who knows what?

The idea that anyone would take someone who was, otherwise, an innocent man to do what they felt metas deserved was enough to make Barry's stomach twist and turn. _There's also the point that Ralph may hate you more than he ever did before that's freaking you out, Barry, admit it._

Slowly, he reached out his hand to enter his fingerprint information, to open the cell. Just before his fingers pressed against the screen, he stopped and read the screen once more.

_Name: Ralph Dibny_

_Powers: Stretch_

_Duration of Stay: Two days_

_Danger Level: One Bar_

And many other points of information that was only visible when the screen was scrolled through. Ralph had barely made a dent of his time within the Pipeline but it was enough to bring a strange sort of tension among the team. Or else, it'd been there so long he hadn't noticed.

"Are you going to open it or what?" Brady's voice asked, breaking Barry out of his thoughts. Barry turned around, finding Brady standing directly behind him, looking at him as if he were crazy. "I know you have superspeed, but the rest of us have to watch your in real time."

Barry pressed his palm flat against the screen and twisted his hand when the display turned to what looked like a lock on the door of a bank vault. The cell made a hissing sound and started to open. Barry folded his arms as he waited for the cell to reveal itself.

"Augh!"

Barry looked over and jumped, letting out a yelp as bad as Brady's when he saw Ralph's face pressed against the glass of the cell, making a grotesque expression. Barry's eyes widened before they returned to size in an expression of annoyance, seeing Ralph pulled his face from the glass and smirk toward him.

"Real classy, Ralph," Barry said sarcastically. "Good to know you're really using your time in there to be a better person."

"What sort of person do I want to be, Rookie? You?" Ralph shoved his hands into his pockets and rested his back against the wall of the cell, looking at Barry and Brady with a shake of his head. "You and your fiancée lock people into a cell that doesn't even have a toilet."

"Kick the wall," Barry instructed.

"I've done enough of that when you put me in here—"

"—I mean, 'kick the wall' and the toilet will pop out," Barry explained. "We don't put people down here because we feel like it."

"No, your fiancée likes to think it's a good idea just in case there's anything I could to go get back at you all. Either that, or there's some sort of a kink thing that she needs to work out and even then, I either have to say 'good luck' or 'you're very lucky'. I'm trying to decide."

Brady glared at Ralph.

"Come on Shortstack, you can't tell me that people haven't said that about your mo—"

"—Okay, Ralph, that's enough." Barry held up his hand. "I came down here to see how you were doing."

"Like you care."

Barry took in a deep breath through his nose, doing his best to keep his temper in check. It was hard to do with Ralph being so…Ralph. Especially with the past that continued to hold over their heads. "Look, I just came down here to make sure you were getting enough food and that you weren't starting to go crazy. I know how difficult if can be down here."

"Why? Did you try to test out this prison to make sure you weren't actually breaking any laws?"

"Let's just go, Barry," Brady said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "He's not going to let us talk to him."

"We can't leave him down here much longer," Barry replied, as if Ralph wasn't even there. He ran his hands through his hair, resting them on the back of his head. "We only put him down here to make sure he turned back to normal and he's clearly back to normal. We can't hold him any longer than that."

"Okay," Brady said slowly. "But how are we going to release him and not have him say anything about…" he waved his arms around. "All this?"

"Hel_-lo_, I'm right here!" Ralph declared, waving his hand. "Man, it's like watching monkeys in a zoo." He looked back and forth between the two. "_Stupid _monkeys."

Brady's eyes narrowed. "Never mind, leave him in there."

"Hey!" Ralph's eyes popped open. He pressed his face and hands against the glass. "You can't leave me in here! I'm back to normal. I haven't had an attack of the stretchies in god knows how long. Please!" His knees trembled, nearly knocking him over. "Get me out of here."

"First, you have to listen to me," Barry said firmly. "You have to listen when we say that with the things you can do now…you're in danger. Not just from those guys who were trying to shake you down for…whatever it is that you did this time. But from people who don't like metas. The Anti-Metahuman Registration Act is continuously moving forward every day and it means a lot of danger to anyone who is found to be a meta."

"Ugh, I already told you, I don't know _anything_," Ralph declared. "I was on the bus—"

"—You said you _weren't _on the bus," Brady pointed out.

Ralph's eyes shifted toward him. "Number one rule in life, Shortstack, people lie."

"Stop calling me, Shortstack!"

Barry ignored the two of them, instead, leaping onto what Ralph had said. "So, you _were _on the bus! Do you remember anyone else who was there? Anyone who may have seemed suspicious to you?"

"Other than the bus driver who kept looking at me in the rearview mirror instead of paying attention to the road?" Ralph replied. He pushed himself off the wall and started to pace in very tight circles, swinging one leg out in front of the other as he went. "But he could've been mad after the IOU I slipped him." He shook his head. "No, not really. But as far as I know, there hasn't been anyone on the city buses that I haven't managed to _not _look at me suspiciously so…"

"Why were you calling Mayor Bellows?" Barry interrupted.

He watched Ralph closely with the question, waited to see if it finally put a crack in Ralph's armor. He saw the color drain from Ralph's face, heard him swallow hard before he pursed his lips, staring back at Barry. Barry felt his heart rate increase, waiting for Ralph's response. It had been a surprise when Joe had managed to come back from the CCPD and found something on Dibny that they hadn't had before. Helpful, but surprising.

Ralph had done a good job at working to keep things with his detective agency out of the eye of the CCPD. But as soon as the news came through, Barry knew he needed to confront Ralph with it as soon as he'd gotten the chance. But, after seeing the argument that came from Caitlin and the others when he'd suggested that Ralph wasn't a good guy and to put him in the pipeline, he knew he had to keep it to himself.

Now, taking Brady along with him probably wasn't the best idea. But the young boy had been working in the Medical Bay when he'd seen Barry's identification come through the security system, alerting of his arrival to STAR Labs, and had followed him down to the Pipeline. And, luckily, it was a Teacher Work Day at school so there was an excuse to have him around. (Though Cadence did look suspiciously at Brady when he'd reminded her).

Ralph finally responded by asking slowly, "Have you been tapping my phone?" His eyes darted around the cell he stood in, as if waiting to see a camera pop out of the walls and point directly at him. (Barry wondered if he'd noticed the camera that was sitting directly in the corner of the cell, pointed directly at him).

"LUDS came back and Joe says that you have fifteen calls between you and the Mayor's office," Barry explained. "And Iris found the same thing."

At that, Ralph's eyebrows rose. He let out a light snort. "What would Little West want to do with Mayor Bellows?"

"She was looking into Mayor Bellows' response to an attack on a mother and son recently, as well as the mounting tensions between metas and humans." Barry folded his arms once more. "Not to mention the ways the paranoid response to metahumans has made it difficult to even bring children to the doctor's office." He waved a hand. "And, somehow, your name came up."

"Wait a second, are you trying to tell me that you think I'm the reason that doctor's office went belly up?" Ralph demanded. He jabbed his index finger into the glass then poked himself in the chest. "Do you know how many people I have pissed off in the last five years? Angry husbands, angry wives. Not exactly dealing with high society, taking photos of cheating spouses. But to accuse me of hurting a bunch of children…well, that's just _sick_!"

Barry threw his hands in the air, tired of talking in circles. That always seemed to happen when he was around Ralph. He barely remembered being able to have a straight conversation with him when they were both still staffed by the CCPD. "Then why are you talking to the mayor?"

"Who says I am?"

"Your phone records."

Ralph opened and closed his mouth. He looked to the side, then to Barry, Brady, back to Barry, and then to the camera in the corner of the ceiling. Slowly, very slowly, he lifted a finger and wagged it toward Barry. "Did you get a warrant for that? You're the one who likes to play by the rules, Rookie, and you went behind my back and did that?" He shrugged. "Can't say I'm surprised. You must be more vicious than I thought. I mean, how else would _you _of all people be about to get married? Wait!" He tilted his head. "Didn't you used to have a thing for Little West?"

"Ralph—"

"—I mean, you never did hide it well."

Rage started to fill Barry. He gritted his teeth, clenched his hands into fists. Felt lightning start to ripple through his eyes. Nevertheless, Ralph continued to smirk at him, waiting for some sort of an emotional response to his taunting. "What's your business with Mayor Bellows?" He demanded.

All the while, Brady continued to look back and forth between Barry and Ralph, as if he were watching a tennis match. One insult lobbed toward to one side of the court, and then shot back seconds later.

"Nothing." Ralph shrugged.

"You called him fifteen times."

"Twelve of them were butt dials."

"Whatever." Finally, Barry pushed himself away from the cell and moved back to lock it. The last thing he was going to do was allow himself to abuse his power to make Ralph's life a little more unbearable. _Even if he deserves it, _Barry thought. "We'll talk to the Mayor ourselves, he's a fan of Joe's."

"You go do that." Ralph waved him off, turning away from the two. "And at the same time, tell me what makes you so high and mighty about everything. Being friends with the Mayor isn't such a great feat you know. It's not like he's got some powers or anything." At that, Ralph sighed heavily. "Go. Go and talk to the Mayor, leave me in here and I'll worry about how everything still hasn't quite moved back to where it's supposed to be. Even after that disgusting mess Dr. Caitlin gave me."

"Well, you definitely look better," Brady commented. He eyed Ralph up and down. "You're not as fat as you used to be."

If Ralph noticed the insult Brady's just thrown his way—or the glare that Barry shot him in response—he didn't make note of it. Instead, he slapped his hands onto his stomach and beamed to himself, as he said, "I know, I just started thinking about how I missed my old body and bam. I look like a Hemsworth."

Barry rolled his eyes. He closed Ralph's cell, grabbed Brady by the shoulder, and dragged him out of the Pipeline. Brady moved his feet as quickly as he could, trying to keep up with Barry's fast pace. Powers or not, his longer stride made it difficult to keep up without his feet dragging.

"What's the rush, Barry? It's not like Ralph's going anywhere," Brady commented as they moved along the twisting hallways toward the elevator.

"I know, I'm just trying to work off my excess energy," Barry replied. He started to slow down. "He just makes me so angry and when I get angry…" he shook his head. "I didn't want him to see my powers. I was going to go to the Speed Lab and run for a bit." He looked down at Brady, suddenly feeling awkward. "It's not going to take long; I don't want you to get bored waiting for me."

Brady shrugged. "I was either going to get bored at home waiting for mom to get back, or here so…"

"I'm glad you wanted to spend the day with me," Barry said slowly. "But why didn't you go with Ryder today?"

Brady suddenly looked annoyed. "Dad's too busy fixing the city after you and mom keep breaking it. I don't get to spend much time with him anymore." He stepped into the elevator when the doors opened and sulked against the corner of the lift. "So I needed _something _interesting to do other than homework. Conner's not really up for anything lately and Leah and I are benched so…"

"I'm sorry that our actions are keeping you from hanging out with Ryder," Barry said sincerely. "I didn't mean for that to happen. And I haven't been able to hang out with him since I got back, either." That was something that had surprised Barry, that things between him and Ryder weren't as awkward as he'd thought it would be. Ryder's and Cadence's relationship didn't seem destined to last more than high school and they were great friends as exes, but there was something to be said when marriage came into the picture.

Ryder had been as happy as the others when they announced their engagement and he and Barry had slowly been forming a relationship before Barry went into the Speed Force. Since coming out of it, however, they hadn't had much time to further that friendship between them, especially as the wedding loomed closer.

"As for Conner, he's going through a lot. And the best thing you can do for him right now is to be there for him."

"His mom died, I get it," Brady said slowly. "I thought my mom died when she traded places with Burnout. But I'm not as upset as he is." His eyes flickered toward Barry as the elevator rose to the Cortex floor. "I mean, I was mad at first, and sometimes, I still do get mad. But—"

"—Sounds like me and Ralph," Barry agreed. He tipped his head back, resting against the back of the elevator. He watched the numbers roll by until they made it to the Cortex. "I can't help but be mad at him."

"He was kicked off the CCPD a million years ago." The elevator doors opened and the two walked out toward the parking garage. "Why does he still get to you?"

Barry sighed heavily. He reached up, running a hand through his hair. "When I first started at the CCPD, all I cared about was the rules. Following them to a 'T' to make sure things were fair for every case that came our way."

"Because of your dad?" Brady asked.

Barry nodded. "But these last few years, we've locked up metahumans without a trial. Played with time and space, messed up other worlds-"

"—Uh, _you _did all that," Brady pointed out.

Barry heaved a sigh, suddenly wondering when it was that Brady had gone from a sweet little kid to someone who had his own opinions. Well, he'd always been that way, but now he was growing older and having even stronger opinions and views of the world. There were times Barry forgot how young Brady was, and it made him worry what would happen if they weren't to have benched him and Leah. What Hitman would've done to harm him even further.

(But it was also an unwelcome reminder that there were many things that Brady _could _do on his own. Things Barry was going to have to navigate while falling into his new role of being a step-father, a more prominent role than just being his friend and mentor).

"And what does all of that have to do with Ralph?"

"Everything we've done, we did because we were trying to help people," Barry explained. "To keep them all safe. And that might've been what he was doing back then. Trying to keep a man who had truly something wrong safe." He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I made a mistake."

"It wouldn't be the first time you made a mistake about your dad," Brady remarked. He waved a hand, then leapt up to walk onto a wheel stop at the head of an empty parking space, holding his arms out to balance himself. "Flashpoint probably made all of this happen."

"Thanks for the reminder," Barry said sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" Brady replied cheerfully. He jumped down from the wheel stop and looked up, seeing two police officers walking their way. Then frowned, slowing to fall just behind Barry as they approached.

Barry followed Brady's gaze and lifted his chin, seeing the guards coming his way. They looked familiar to him, when was the last time…Oh, that's right. When he and Joe were first investigating the "Bus Metas". Mayor Bellows had been at the CCPD and the guards were standing nearby, watching him closely.

"Allen," The guard on the left said with a nod. He then nodded to Brady, who eyed him closely.

"Hey." Barry nodded back. His eyes shifted between the two guards. "Aren't you two on the mayor's detail?"

The guard on the right then nodded and said, "Dispatch radioed. Captain Singh needs you as soon as possible."

"Okay…." Barry looked to Brady once more then back to the two guards. "Did he say anything about why he'd need me on my day off?"

The guards shook their heads. "But it's important. You're needed at the station. Now."

Barry's face screwed up. He watched the two a second longer, then turned to Brady to apologize for dragging him around for the day. At the same time, he saw Brady's eyes widen in surprise and fear.

"Barry!"

Everything around Barry slowed down at the same time Brady cried out. There was a sudden cracking sound that Barry quickly recognized. The sound of a gunshot. He flinched, his shoulders flying up to his ears. Lightning encircled Barry's body, following his movement when he whipped around to find the source of the sound. He saw bullets slowly moving toward him, spinning silently toward him. Barry plucked the bullets out of the air, moved the arms of the officers shooting toward him with a gentle tap, took the bullet heading toward Brady out of the air, and moved back into place as he stopped using his speed.

All at once, the guards' guns smacked each other in the face with so much force that it knocked them to the ground. Out cold.

Brady's eyes widened. "Whoa!"

"That never gets old." Barry grinned.

"Umm…those two work for the mayor and they just tried to kills us," Brady pointed out.

Barry sighed. So much for a normal day off. "They're looking for Dibny."

* * *

Cadence turned away from the paperwork on her desk when she heard a light knock at the door. Expecting to find her boss, Natalie Ramirez, waiting for the case files that she'd completed, Cadence quickly placed her hands on a stack of folders and said, "I just need five more minutes."

"Really? You're going to put me on hold for five minutes?" Iris teased, leaning into Cadence's office door. She walked up to Cadence's desk, picking up a photo that sat on the corner of the desk and smiled, seeing a picture of a younger Cadence posing for a picture with her cheerleading team. "I don't know if I should be offended."

"So long as you're not Captain Singh, you should be fine," Cadence replied with a light laugh.

"Have you seen my dad? I stopped by his office but he wasn't there." Iris continued to look over the photo, her smile continuing to widen as the seconds passed.

"Not today, but I've been in here all morning." Cadence leaned back in her seat, straightening the photo in its place along with a picture of Brady's previous yearbook photo, a copy of her parents' wedding photo, a photo of herself and Barry, a photo of Ryder, and a photo of Team Flash. (Thankfully without STAR Labs or any of them being in suits to tip anyone off). "Is something wrong?"

"He was supposed to meet me, Wally, and Jesse for lunch before they went back to Earth-2 for the day."

Cadence's eyebrows rose. It was always something big if the parent was going to have a meal with a child and their significant other. And, as far as Cadence knew, they had never been able to have much time together in that capacity since Jesse had first arrived on Earth-1 a few years before.

Iris noticed Cadence's eyebrow raise and nodded. "Yeah, it was going to be pretty big. We were going to meet up with Harry, too. Make it a whole family thing."

"And Harry didn't show?"

"Nope. But we didn't expect him to. I think Jesse may have banned him from going. Haven't you noticed the tension between them?"

"It was kind of hard to miss. We were talking about the lead of Team Flash and it seems like Harry and Jesse have been having problems with their team over there." Cadence ran a hand through her hair. "That seems to be going around, lately."

"You haven't really made up with Caitlin yet?"

"Have you told Barry you didn't want us to take him out of the Speed Force, yet?"

Iris's jaw dropped just slightly. Then she closed it and nodded slowly. "Touché," she replied. "Looks like there's a lot of that going on right now." She cleared her throat and stood up straight. "I looked more into Mayor Bellows and a lot of questions are coming up, compared to answers. The way he handled yours and Brady's attack was just the tip of the iceberg. But, as I was looking through recent meta incidents, I realized there was a similar response to what'd happened with the doctor's office…"

_There was another cracking sound before an implosion caught them off-guard. Within seconds they were in the air, flying toward the middle of the street. Cadence flipped around in mid-air and landed on the ground in a low crouch. Brady, who was closer to the attack, was knocked off his feet, landing on the hood of a car that screeched to a halt before he rolled to the ground._

_The second he was back on his feet, there was a large man in front of him, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him to his feet. "Finally got you," the man said. "You meta creep."_

_Whether it was through fear or a sudden plan, Brady phased through his hands. The man dropped him to the ground, and Brady reared back, punching him hard in the stomach. When the man fell to his knees, he brought back his fist once more, sending a shadow ball into his face. It was that blow that knocked the man off his feet, knocking him into the side of the parked—and now abandoned—car, the same way it'd happened to Brady only moments before._

_Cadence ducked away from the swinging blow that came toward the left side of her face. But was caught off-guard by the sudden, almost vicious one from the right. The punch landed on her jaw, the momentum twisting her head to the side. Saliva, not blood, filled her mouth, she spat it on the ground, and turned back to the man that'd attacked her._

_It hadn't hurt, the blow she received. But surprised her so she couldn't brace for it. Her enhanced strength made it so that it was barely a glimpse to her side, but she followed the momentum of the hit to swing herself around to face him once more. She turned back around, drove her elbow into the throat of the guy in front of her. The wind got knocked out of him in a gasping wheeze, hands flying to this throat. Then she brought up her foot, quickly striking him in the face, a crane kick, that knocked him to his back._

_But he recovered quickly, swinging at her again. Leaping forward, Cadence brought her legs up and wrapped them around the attacker's waist. She brought up her hands, and bent back until her palms were planted on the ground and she flipped herself back over so that the attacker was now underneath her. Lifting a foot, she placed it on the figure's stomach and leveraged herself back up to her feet before springing backwards out of the way._

_Cadence took a step back and crashed straight into the wall of the building behind her. That stunned her, surprised her in not being so aware of her surroundings. So much so that when her attacker started to punch toward her again, she reacted quicker than she'd liked, after having had tried to avoid using her powers only moments before._

_Cadence's hands erupted into flames and she brought her arms up in a block, shoving the attacker away from her. She twisted in a quick circle, shielding herself with the stream of fire that followed, and sent out a surge toward him. He slid underneath it and Cadence flipped forward and dropped her heel down, crashing into her attacker and forced him back to the ground._

"Cade?" Iris asked.

_Cadence's head whipped around, at the sound of her son's cry for help. She moved to reach for him, but was stymied by a collar that was projectile launched from an spring-loaded contraption her attacker whipped out, that clamped down around her neck. The flames around her hands were immediately snuffed out._

_"What?" Cadence desperately grasped against the collar around her neck. The palms of her hands illuminated by the bright blue neon light encircling it. She could hear a low hum of something inside it starting up. "What is this?"_

_She received no response, didn't get a second to ponder further, before a nasty kick was sent to her face._

"Cadence!" Iris waved her hand in front of Cadence's face, making the fire metahuman jerk her head back, blinking hard. "Are you okay?" Iris placed her hands on her hips. "Your mind just went somewhere I couldn't follow."

"Oh yeah, I'm okay," Cadence replied. "Just zoned out for a second." She brought her hands up to massage her temples, her head suddenly pounding. "What were we just talking about? Right, Mayor Bellows. He tried covering up what was going on with the doctor's office as well?"

Iris nodded; lips pressed together in a grim line. "Seems that a lot of his money is being funneled into Lex Luthor's pocket, and vice versa. Their campaigns are similar to each other, though Lex is the one who is being more vocal about what he wants to do with the metas. And that's why he was hiding what happened to you and Brady, let alone any identities of any metas he's recently learning. All the others have been put into Iron Heights by us."

"Do you think any of this can be in connection with Hitman?" Cadence asked.

Iris slowly started to smile. "Only one way to find out."

"I don't want you to get in any trouble with this," Cadence warned. "You're putting yourself in danger even looking into Mayor Bellows and I can't ask you to—"

"—I'm an investigative journalist, I can't do my job without a little bit of danger," Iris replied. She shrugged lightly, a determined light shining in her eye. "This is affecting all of us, and a lot of innocent people. I can't let him get away with this."

Cadence twisted her mouth to the side, watching her closely. "But don't Joe and Barry have a close relationship with Mayor Bellows? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

"Only if things end up going wrong."

"You do know you're talking about Team Flash, right?"

"Right."

The two smiled and laughed. Cadence's laughter subsided when she heard another knock at the door. She leaned over and Jordan leaning into the doorway, chewing her lower lip, blue eyes wide behind her blonde fringe.

"Hey Jordan," Cadence greeted her cheerfully. "Can I help you with something?"

"No!' Jordan shook her head frantically. "I mean, yes!" She slapped herself on the forehead. "I mean, 'no', you can't help me with something. I can help you."

"Alright." Cadence's lips twitched as she tried not to start laughing. Jordan had been interning at the CCPD long enough to become comfortable around her, but she still managed to return to her timid nature when she was working to figure out how to give bad news or talk to people she wasn't completely comfortable with. "How can you help me?"

"Well, I couldn't help but overhear you before, when you were talking about Mayor Bellows. But, uh, he's here and, uh, I thought, if you wanted to talk to him—"

Iris and Cadence caught each other's eye. "—Thanks, Jordan!" Cadence leapt to her feet and she and Iris hurried out of her office. Jordan moved quickly to keep up with them, huffing and puffing as she tired to move quickly in her high heels. "You don't have to take us to him, you can go back to her desk."

Jordan nodded, her cheeks turning red with the effort of trying to keep up. "No, it's just, uh, I need to talk to you about something." She sucked in a deep breath, trying to get her second wind. "I mean, I'm glad I was able to help with Mayor Bellows. But there's, uh, something else." Jordan continued, her heels clacking along the ground as she went. She cried out, nearly falling over when her heels threatened to send her sprawling. Chuckling nervously, Jordan took off her heels and padded next to him. "It's pretty important."

"And it can't wait?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to Barry about it, but he's not in today. And I figured, maybe you'd be able to give him a message or help me out yourself or…or something?" Heels dangling from her hand, Jordan slowed to a stop by the water fountain just outside the bull pen. Her eyes shifted toward Iris.

"Sounds serious," Cadence remarked, folding her arms.

"Cade!" Iris nodded toward Mayor Bellows as he moved through the bull pen with Captain Singh by his side. They stopped momentarily to shake hands. "We're going to lose him."

"Jordan, can we talk later?" Cadence asked.

"Oh! Oh, yeah." Jordan started to wring her heels in her hand. "It's not even that important, really. It can wait. I'll just ask Barry the next time I see him. Or you. Or, whomever comes first. Just let me know, okay?" She stepped back, jostling the water fountain. Where, upon the force of the hit, water started to spray out of the nozzle before the water pressure slowed to a stop. "Oh! Oops!"

"Jordan…"

"I got it." Jordan waved her hand to the two women. "Don't worry. I can clean it up."

Cadence nodded and she and Iris hurried across the floor of the CCPD to Mayor Bellows, who slowed to a stop just at the front door, seeing them coming. "Is that Little Iris West?" Mayor Bellows as when they approached. He beamed to Iris, who smiled back bashfully. "I remember you when you were this tall." He mimed a height near his waist. "I heard you were by my office a few days ago. I'm sorry I haven't responded to your message; I've had a lot on my plate lately."

"Well, thank you for giving us some of your time," Cadence said, ignoring how Mayor Bellows has completely ignored her. "I'm sure you're very busy with the re-election coming up."

Mayor Bellows turned a grin her way. "Yes, I am. But I'm always ready and willing to help out the police in any way." He reached out his hand. Cadence took hold and shook his hand firmly, unable to help herself but use her enhanced strength a little. A small smile came to her face when Mayor Bellows blinked in surprise and rushed to pull his hand back. "Cadence Nash, fairly new to the CCPD. I've heard a lot of good things about you. Congratulations on the upcoming wedding, by the way. A very exciting occasion from one former cop to another."

"We're hoping you could answer some questions we have about a case we've been working on," Iris said, taking charge. She looked to Cadence, who nodded her encouragement. _Not that she needs much encouragement, _Cadence thought. _When she says investigative journalist, she's not kidding._ "And everything seems to tie together; things to do with metahumans and things being kept under the rug."

Mayor Bellows blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow," he said. He reached up a hand and ran it over his balding head. "Metahumans are a tricky subject in this city, but I've worked to be as transparent as I can with how they're to be dealt with." He started to inch toward the door to the CCPD, Iris and Cadence moving along.

Cadence glanced at Iris then back to Mayor Bellows. She didn't have much to say to add to the conversation but there was always something good to be said about her powers of determining if other people lied. Whenever anyone was put under a lot of stress, body temperatures started to rise…

"Well, it's just that there are people who don't feel that they have to be 'dealt with'," Iris said, using air quotes around the words. "That they deserve to live a normal life among those that don't have powers. The Metahuman Task Force has been helping. But there's something else I wanted to ask you about. Such as the money that's been moving into your campaign for re-election and why it's being funded by Lex Luthor."

Mayor Bellows looked at the two, eyes flickering between them. Cadence focused closely on his face, noticing tiny droplets of sweat that was starting to for at his hairline. At the darkening patches under his arms. Focused intently on the flooring of his face, especially around his nose.

"Are your opponents being funded by Lex Luthor as well?" Iris continued.

Mayor Bellows held up his hand and started move away from the girls, quickly moving down the steps to the concrete. Cadence continued to watch him, watch the tiny twitch in the corner of his eye that would've been, otherwise, nearly imperceptible. Saw his nose twitch once in the corner before he reached up to scratch at an itch.

"Ladies, I have to—"

"We won't take up much more of your time," Iris continued. She hurried to stand at Mayor Bellows' side. Cadence moved slowly after, continuing to keep her eyes on Mayor Bellows. Every few seconds, he would look toward her, before rubbing at the sweat on his forehead, starting to tremble under her intense gaze. "Do you know a Ralph Dibny?"

All at once, Mayor Bellows stood up straight and turned to Iris and Cadence with a cool, detached smile.

_Bingo, _Cadence thought. At that same movement, Cadence noticed the pinkish tinge to the area around Mayor Bellows' nose and forehead. The Pinocchio Effect; the skin around the nose and forehead increased in body temperature when someone lied. With Mayor Bellows' lighter complexion, the pink tinge was barely visible. But the way he immediately turned to a stance of confidence was the biggest red flag. _What's he up to? And what does he know about Ralph?_

"No." Mayor Bellows shrugged. He pushed back his coat and placed his hands into the pocket of his slacks. "Should I? The name doesn't ring a bell."

"He's a former cop turned PI," Iris explained. Her eyes narrowed, watching Mayor Bellows just as closely. "My reports indicate that he called your office more than a dozen times. And, as a Private Investigator, they undertake investigatory law services. Usually, they're used for those who are trying to scam workers compensation and insurance fraud. But, in modern times, they've been primarily used to determine if a spouse has been cheating."

Mayor Bellows cleared his throat, started to tap his foot. "What does this have to do with my campaign? I'm not cheating on my wife."

"But you _are _cheating the system," Iris continued. She looked Mayor Bellows in the eye, taking a solid stance before him. Cadence watched her in awe; she'd never seen Iris when at work, but knew there had to be a sense of bravery that went with it. Why else would there be those that had gone to war torn countries just to get a story? "And Dibny found out. So, he started to blackmail you. And you're using the money you're getting from Luthor, to pay him off."

All at once, Mayor Bellows whipped his hand out of his pocket and pointed a pistol between the two of them. Cadence steeled her muscles, working to figure out what was the best option to move forward. She could attack Mayor Bellows; whip up her foot in a high kick and knock the pistol out of his hand, but if she didn't move fast enough, he could shoot Iris. And if he decided to shoot _her _instead of Iris, then he'd realize her powers.

If he realized her powers, he'd find out her identity.

And she couldn't leave Iris alone so that she could get on her suit and then try to stop him…

Slowly, Cadence reached into her pocket for her phone. She pressed her thumb into the screen of her phone then went to the Metahuman Warning App and set it off. If there was any time she could use Barry's superspeed, it was then.

"It's too bad none of you knew how to stay out of my business," Mayor Bellows remarked, stepping closer to the two. He flashed a smile to the officers that moved by them to go into the building, keeping the pistol just out of sight.

_Have to keep up appearances, _Cadence thought, eyes slowly narrowing.

"I was talking to Joe this morning and he was starting to say some of the same things, asking too many questions…"

"What'd you do to my dad?" Iris demanded.

"Nothing yet, but my men are under strict orders to silence him if things don't go well here," Mayor Bellows replied. "If they don't hear from met at a certain time, then things won't go so well with Allen, either." He looked to Cadence. "I really am excited for your nuptials, I've even got a gift coming. Let's just hope that we all get there."

"What do you want with us?" Cadence asked.

"Just to follow everything I say when I say it." Mayor Bellows motioned with his pistol. "Now get moving." Cadence started to move to the side but stopped when Mayor Bellows pointed the pistol directly at her. "Don't think I don't know about your frequent flyer miles. You may not be the Fastest Man Alive, but I know you can bring me to him in a blink of an eye."

* * *

Barry skidded to a stop in front of Ralph's cell, dropping Brady to the ground as he did so. Brady stumbled and flung out his arms to keep himself upright.

"Can you warn me the next time you're going to do that?" Brady asked, slapping a hand up to cover his mouth.

"Yeah, this time I'll make sure to put up a warning sign," Barry replied sarcastically. He pressed his hand to the panel and brought up Ralph's cell. It slid open and Ralph quickly turned away, zipping up the front of his pants while kicking the toilet back into the wall.

"Do you not know how to knock?!" Ralph demanded, outraged. "Aren't there any privacy laws in this place?" He watched as the glass door opened, eyeing it carefully. "Wait, you're actually letting me go? You're not going to keep me in here to torture me anymore?"

"We have to get you out of here," Barry said firmly. "_Now!" _He moved forward to grasp Ralph's arm, but Ralph backed away, holding up his hands.

"How do I know you're not going to rip my arm out of it's socket again?" Ralph demanded. He glared back and forth between the two. "I don't know if you've noticed, but since I ran into you again my life has gone to hell. Every time I'm around you, my life is a nightmare." He brought his index fingers together to make the form of a cross. "You're a jinx, Allen." He looked to Brady. "I'd be careful if I were you, Shortstack. He's about to be your step-father and I can't say what'll happen to you."

Brady made a face. "Okay, now I get why you were hesitant to think he's changed."

Ralph sucked in a deep breath. He dropped his hands and glared at Barry. "I get it. You try to hold yourself on such a high pedestal that your head is stuck in the clouds. You think you're so high and mighty and _pure _that no one else can touch your God-like status."

"Ralph," Barry started. He swiftly cut himself off when Ralph started speaking once more, as if Barry had never spoken.

"But you don't know me. And you don't know what I've been doing to work on myself when you decided to come flying back in and accuse me of things." Ralph hesitantly stepped out of the cell and slid along the wall, inching past Barry and Brady, who watched him. "I've turned over a new leaf in ways you can't imagine. I've been starting to see the wrongs that I'm now trying to right."

"Ralph—"

"-I've taken my life by the horns and am going to ride it off into the sunset—"

"—Ralph," Brady tried. He sighed heavily when Ralph kept going.

"—And I don't need _you _to now think it's a good time to feel guilty." Ralph turned around in time to see Mayor Bellows standing behind him with Iris and Cadence flanking his sides and a pistol pointed toward him. Ralph's shoulders slumped. "Aw, crap."

"Ralph Dibny," Mayor Bellows greeted him.

"Mayor Bellows," Ralph replied.

"You lost weight."

"Uh…" Ralph's eyes shifted back and forth. "Lap band surgery."

Mayor Bellows then turned his attention to Barry, who stared back at him in wide-eyed surprise. "Do you really think that there are things going on in this city that I don't know about?" He taunted. "I've been watching STAR Labs since the Particle Accelerator went off, knowing there was a chance someone was going to use the information from that day for something. Imagine my surprise when little Barry Allen started to become even more interested in the 'supernatural' that had been happening around the city. Being the driving force behind the Metahuman Task Force…continuously talking about a Man in Yellow. And all the while waking up from a coma at the same time as the Flash was first seen in the city."

"The Flash?" Ralph repeated.

Mayor Bellows rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you hadn't figured that out."

"Dude?" Ralph whipped his head around to stare at Barry. Barry swallowed hard, looking away from him. "Are you kidding me? _You're_ the flash? Everyone else gets struck by lighting and dies, but you get powers? Argh!" He threw his hands in the air. "Now I have to _hate_ the flash."

"Focus!" Brady snapped.

"And Flare," Mayor Bellows continued, speaking to Cadence but looking at Brady. "What kind of mother are you to let your son be put in as much danger as Shadowhunter gets into on a daily basis."

"Oh, I get it, it's a sort of family affair!" Ralph rolled his eyes.

Barry started to move forward, tensing his muscles so that he could tap into the Speed Force, but stopped when he saw Iris quickly shake her head. Mayor Bellows smiled to himself. "Make one false move and Joe's going to get it."

_Joe? _Barry's eyes widened once more.

"That's right, I hate to hurt a fellow cop, but I've got some things I don't want to come out into the light. I've got some men waiting to take him down if they don't hear from me at a certain time or things go wrong. And they'll know if something goes wrong. I'm a very powerful man."

"He is," Ralph agreed. "I've had a lot of his people stalking me over the past couple of months."

"And now I'm done with you," Mayor Bellows remarked. He whipped up his pistol once more and fired off a shot before anyone could move. Barry flinched and started to move into Flash time, then stopped, seeing something amazing happened. He saw the back of Ralph's head stretch out then warp back into place.

Ralph brought his hands up to his face, cupped them over his nose, then breathed hard. He sniffled a few times before _phew _the bullet shot out of nose into his hands. Iris and Brady reacted with disgust while Ralph lifted the bullet and turned it this way and that in his hands. "Bullet Booger. Super gross."

Barry looked to Cadence, who nodded and immediately teleported in a puff of smoke. _Bamf!_

Startled, not just at the tell-tale sound of Cadence's teleporting, but also at the very un-dead Ralph standing before him. Barry grinned and folded his arms. "Sorry, Mr. Mayor. But it's over. You couldn't kill Ralph and Cade's going to save Joe."

"And what about your identities?" Mayor Bellows asked, his face darkening as he looked to Iris, Barry, Brady, and Ralph. "I can let the entire city know about them. It'll be the news that'll run over the entire city. And no one will blame me for what I've done."

"You're putting innocent lives in danger," Iris said. "Innocent meta lives."

"Metas aren't innocent," Mayor Bellows spat. "I was doing this city a favor. As soon as metahumans came around, they've cost everyone more than their fair share of the lives they deserved."

"What happened to Flash Day?" Brady demanded. "And him getting the key to the city?"

"That was just to increase his numbers in the election," Iris explained. "To get the sway of the city on his side just before Lex's political run. Then he could align himself with Lex and absolve any of the negative attention off himself."

"I'm just doing what's best for this city. Getting rid of all the dirty metahumans so we can live peacefully. And I'll do that with whatever means necessary."

"Even putting a bunch of children in danger?" Barry demanded. "Getting their DNA and identities from a doctor's office?" Mayor Bellows smirked.

"Wait, you did _that?" _Ralph demanded. "And I didn't think you could sink any lower."

"Believe me, metas are _nothing._"

"I'm sure all the metas in Iron Heights will feel the same way about you," Barry remarked. He moved forward and grasped Mayor Bellows' elbow. He raced to Iron Heights, dropped Mayor Bellows off with a note attached to him, then raced back to STAR Labs. "He's not going to be out of there anytime soon."

"What if he tells people about us?" Brady asked. "About STAR Labs?"

Iris shrugged, shaking her head. "I'll write an article that discredits him. That'll explain everything about what he did to sway voters his way. It might not be the best thing for those that are on his side…but it's the best we've got right now."

"You sure this isn't one of those _Men In Black_ moments?" Ralph asked. "You don't have a little pen that'll erase everyone's memories of the last day or so? Or twenty?"

"We're not _that _advanced," Barry said. He cleared his throat, looking to Ralph then at his shoes. "Ralph, I owe you an—"

"—Apology?" Ralph broke in. "Yeah, you really do. But I don't think I can stand seeing you grovel and beg for my forgiveness, that'll be a terrible sight, even for you." He looked over when Cadence teleported back with an explanation of, "Joe's fine," and wiped a smear of blood off her cheek. "Can you do that all the time or do you have to really work at it?"

Cadence ignored him.

"Anyway," Barry continued. "I think I have something you'll be interested in." Ralph's eyebrows rose, a grin coming to his face. "There's no money involved."

"Ugh." Ralph's upper lip curled. "No payout, no mayor money. I have to pick up a case."

"I have a job for you."

"You know, Rookie, I'd laugh, but I'm afraid my face will fall off."

Barry ignored him. He nodded to Iris, Cadence, and Brady. "Let me and my team study you and your powers. See your limitations. We can figure out what you can do and can't do…and let me train you. To do what I do. To be a detective again, a real one. It won't be easy. Some days you'll hate me-"

"—I always hate you. But that might be kinda cool. So long as I've got your team of nurses to patch me up every time I'm hurt." Iris and Cadence's faces screwed up while Brady glared. "Don't worry Shortstack, when you turn of age, you'll get it."

"But there's just one thing I was wondering," Barry interrupted. Already mentally screaming at himself for making such a dumb decision. "What made you look into Mayor Bellows in the first place?"

"A client. Some guy named DeVoe."

All at once, the something slammed into his brain; a memory. A distance memory. A memory he wasn't sure was his own, Earth-2 Barry's, or Savitar's. Barry's knees suddenly turned weak, making him throw out his arm and hold himself up against the wall beside him.

The flashes continued faster and faster at a rate of speed that it felt like his brain was breaking as he tried to process it.

_"This is where we came up with the cerebral inhibitor, to use against DeVoe."_

Blood dripped from Barry's nose, everything slanted to the side, then turned black before he slammed to the ground.

* * *

**A/N:** Whew, took me sooooo long to update this. It's been so long that I had to actually re-read this story to remember what I was going to do. (I have my notes documents but if you aren't in my headspace it seems really disjointed to how things are supposed to work, lol). But now I'm back and I've got things in the works that I think you'll ll be excited about.

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**PS – **With Hartley Sawyer being fired from The Flash, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with Dibny. I have a plan where, after this season, I can easily write him out and it won't affect much for the rest of the show/this series. But I do also have a plan that could work up until his actually leaving the show. I understand and was disgusted by a lot of things I saw in his tweets, but am also able to differentiate his character from the actor. So it's still up in the air right now.

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **DeVoe and Marlize really are being fake nice. It's more of a game for them. They're waiting to see how everything plays out before they had to reveal themselves. DeVoe really does have an ego and so far he has every right to have one. Lol.


	30. Repercussions

**29**

* * *

"Are you sure you're up to go again?" Oliver grinned, folding his arms as he watched Barry stare up at the salmon ladder with an incredulous expression on his face. "I heard that you were having some problems staying on your feet lately. I don't want to overdo it."

Reaching up his hands, Barry pressed his hair back off his forehead. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks, dripped off his chin. "I'm pretty sure anyone who's trying to figure out the bank of memories between himself, and two doppelgangers would find it difficult to keep their composure." He gestured toward Oliver. "Even you."

Oliver shook his head. "I've had my fair share of things I've had to deal with over here, but doppelgangers are where I draw the line."

"Don't worry about him, Bare," Cisco called from the other side of the bunker, where he and Harry were crowded around the computer terminal. "There's more than enough that we can handle. Oliver's just jealous that we can get more done without using our enemies like a pin cushion." Oliver turned and glared at him. "But what do I know? We're the ones who mess everything up."

With a light roll of his eyes, Oliver turned back to Barry. He pointed with his chin to the salmon ladder. "Alright, go again."

"You know, it's not as hard as you make it look." As if to prove his point, Barry used his speed to race up and down the salmon ladder. Lightning trailed off him and he moved so fast that everyone who was watching him had to rapidly bob their heads up and down to keep up with his movements. Barry dropped to the ground, holding the bar in his hands. "It's not like there needs to be an instruction manual to it."

"Careful, Allen, your ego is showing," Harry remarked.

Barry grinned and turned, handing the pole back to Oliver. Oliver took it and turned to put it back, just in time for Diggle to whip around and start to throw jabs towards Barry's face. Barry quickly backed across the mats on the floor and brought up his own hands to protect himself as Diggle's fist moved rapidly toward him. Oliver stood off to the side, watching the two.

"You use your speed as a crutch," Oliver remarked as he watched Diggle and Barry spar against each other. "You use it to get things done quickly, but not effectively. Like the salmon ladder. You used your speed to ensure I couldn't see your form and how much time you were taking between each ladder rung. You need to rely on all your other instincts to make sure you come out on top. Not just the powers you were given."

All was quiet as Barry and Diggle continue to spar…until a very loud snorting sound filled the air. Oliver took in a deep breath, his chest swelling as he turned to face Ralph. Ralph looked back at Oliver with raised eyebrows, a slightly dopey expression on his face.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I get really, very bored when I'm getting lectured about something," Ralph remarked. He took his hands out from the pockets of the sweatpants he was wearing and gestured toward Barry. "Kind of like when I have to listen to Rookie over here, try to tell me what it's like to be a good hero." His gaze shifted toward Oliver. "Are you…considered a hero here?"

Oliver clenched his jaw and took a step toward Ralph.

Barry used a quick speed boost to knock Diggle's hand away and turned his gaze to the newest—albeit temporary—member of Team Flash. "Ralph," he snarled through gritted teeth. "Stop!"

"Or what? Robin Hood's going to shoot me with an arrow?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Oliver murmured. He turned an almost smug smile to Barry, who glared back at him. Diggle chuckled to himself, dropping his arms to his side, giving Barry a light reprieve. Then he cleared his throat. "As I was saying—"

"Hey!" Ralph interrupted. This time Brady laughed quietly when he saw just how perturbed—pissed off—Oliver was getting at Ralph's presence. He turned to address the entire room. "You guys want to see something cool?" He didn't wait for a response before focusing on his powers and started to stretch around the Bunker.

Oliver's eyebrows rose. Diggle folded his arms over his chest, watching with rapt attention—though as the seconds passed, his eyes seemed to grow wider with horror and…amazement. Barry rolled his eyes. Harry and Cisco ignored him. Brady sat in the corner of the practice pads with Connor, legs stretched out before him, knocking his feet together as he waited.

Finally, Ralph stopped stretching, his upper half encircled around the rafters and the beams that supported the bunker. A wide grin spread across his face, waiting for Oliver's and Diggle's reactions to his powers.

"That's kinda cool," Diggle murmured, after finally finding his voice. He brought up a hand to cover his mouth, blinking rapidly. "A little disgusting, but cool."

Oliver shook his head. He brought up his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose then ran his hand down his face. He swung his head around to glare at Barry who simply shrugged in response and lazily waved a hand toward Oliver. Translation: _Just ignore him. _Oliver gritted his teeth in response.

"Just…" Barry turned back to Oliver. "Look, I get that you're trying to help me train and to get better." "Oliver nodded. But that wasn't the kind of help I was looking for when we came here."

"I know," Oliver agreed. He motioned toward Brady. "I needed to get more training in with him." He paused, glancing at Conner, who sat quietly beside his best friend, pressing his chin in his hands, staring into space. "Kicking your ass is just a bonus."

"Ha ha."

Barry ran a hand through his hair, then rested his hands atop his head. "Okay, look. We came here to see if you guys to help up figure out what was going on with DeVoe. Are you sure we can't find him?" Barry asked. "I mean, we were warned, we had a heads up that someday some guy named DeVoe would be one of my greatest foes."

"Technically, you weren't," Brady commented, sticking his hand in the air as if he were in class. "It was one of your doppelgangers that broke your _brain _into realizing that DeVoe would be one of your greatest foes."

"Abracadabra mentioned it, too," Conner agreed. Brady nodded.

Cisco sighed heavily. "If the Peanut Gallery is finished," he remarked. Brady and Conner both grinned. Then the mechanical engineer glanced at his best friend as if he were crazy. "Do you know how many people there are in this state with the name DeVoe?"

"No," Barry replied honestly.

"Thousands!" Cisco insisted.

Harry gestured, almost violently, toward the computer system in front of them. He stood in his regular stance, arms folded over his chest and feet shoulder width apart. A power stance to hold any sort of control over everything going on around him. "And we still don't have an age."

"Unless it's the three-month-old William DeVoe," Cisco continued. He squinted, leaning closer to the computer screen as if he was unable to read it. Though had looked at it enough to know that they weren't any closer to figuring things out than they were before. Though it was what prompted Barry to suggest they go to Star City and ask Oliver and the others to help them with their search.

And, as Barry thought, it'd probably be a good idea to have Oliver and Conner to spend some time together. Random visits to Central City and the odd text message and phone call when he wasn't too busy being the Green Arrow wasn't enough to cultivate the relationship. Even Ryder, after Barry had mentioned how Brady was upset of not seeing him too much, had made a better effort to be around. Nevertheless, Barry could see Oliver's struggle with the decision he and Felicity had made.

Running a hand through his hair, Barry said, "I don't think one of my greatest enemies is a baby."

"Evil killer baby…" Cisco murmured.

"It could happen," Harry said. He shrugged and waved an arm. "We've seen a lot of stranger things. Who's to say that an infant couldn't start exhibiting metahuman abilities they inherited from their parents." He shrugged. "Or that a pregnant woman would start to have metahuman abilities due to carrying a meta infant to term."

Barry sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. He hadn't thought about that. "Right…" then he looked over as the opening to the bunker slid open and Felicity walked through. In her hands she clutched a bushel of balloons and a large gift bag, festooned with curled ribbon and tissue paper that stuck out of the top. "Wow," Barry remarked. "You're real prepared."

Felicity's beam nearly took up her whole face as she motioned to the bag and balloons. Cisco and Harry leaned out of the way as she waved the balloons and bag around. "Team Arrow to team Bride." She pushed her glasses up her nose. "Very excited for that bachelorette party."

Brady opened his mouth, ready to say something, but closed his mouth once more when he found Barry staring daggers at him. Brady pressed his lips together and shrugged, leaning back and continued to kick his feet together. If an eleven year old noticed the tension between Cadence and Felicity, then Barry knew it was only a matter of time until things, potentially, went badly with the bachelorette party.

"Yep, getting inebriated with the same gender to celebrate an archaic institution?" Harry asked.

"Priceless," Cisco agreed.

"And you only get married once!" Felicity agreed. Then her smile faded, she turned her gaze to the ceiling, deep in thought. Felicity tapped her finger on her cheek for a few seconds. "Well, actually, most marriages are divorced these days." Oliver and Diggle grimaced while Barry's eyebrows came together. "55 percent to be exact. But that's just statistics."

She then noticed Harry and Cisco both pulling their hands across their throats behind Barry's back. Her eyes widened at her faux pas and she gasped loudly, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. Ralph, on the other hand, burst out laughing, his voice echoing all around the bunker from the way he twisted and turned. "She got you pegged, Rookie!"

Barry glared at him.

Felicity brought her hand down from her mouth. Stepping forward, she placed her hands on Barry's shoulders, gently drumming her fingers against him. Shook him. "But not…not you and Cadence. That would _never_ happen…I mean…." Her eyes then trailed over to Ralph's lower body, that gently rocked ack and forth as he waited. "Who's that?"

Sighing, Barry pushed the thoughts of any impending divorces out of his head. He gestured toward Ralph with a half-hearted wave. "Ralph Dibny."

"He's…" Felicity walked closer, gazing at him. She reached out and poked at the skin. She jumped, seeing her finger dig right into his skin. "Just a stomach?"

"Stop!" Ralph cried. "That's my bellybutton! That tickles!" Felicity continued to poke him and Ralph let go of the rafter he was holding onto, snapping back into place. Felicity screamed at this sudden appearance and jumped backwards. "Wow, I can stretch even further than I thought!" He lifted his arms and grinned at Felicity. "How'd my stomach look?"

Felicity blinked back at him. "Amazing," she replied, her voice a whispered awe. Over Ralph's shoulder, Oliver glared at his girlfriend. He cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows, looking directly at her. Felicity jumped once more and quickly corrected her. "I mean, your _powers_ are amazing. But what happened—"

"—Bus metas," Brady and Conner said in unison.

"—But how—"

"—We opened a portal," Brady said.

"—And dark matter spilled out," Conner agreed.

"—How'd you open the portal—"

"—We used this quack sphere and—"

"—It's a _quark _sphere," Cisco interrupted, holding up a hand. "If you can't say it right, then _please_, try not to butcher the language." Brady stuck out his tongue. Cisco then took up the explanation. "We were trying to take Barry out of the Speed Force and when we did, it opened a portal that allowed a wave of dark matter to rush out and engulf a bus that was nearby. We think everyone who was on that bus has been turned into a metahuman."

"Okay…" Oliver licked his lips, taken in by the rapid explanations. "So you were gone for six months because you were in the Speed Force?" Barry nodded in agreement.

"Why wouldn't it let you out?" Diggle grabbed the towels that had been sitting by the floor and tossed one to Oliver before dabbing at his neck with the other. "You've gone in and out of it before. What made it keep you in there this time?"

"Because I wasn't just in the Speed Force, I was in a Speed Force prison," Barry explained. He squeezed his eyes shut, getting another flash of the life he should've lived through his head once more. The life that should have been Savitar's. "I'll try to keep this short."

"Good luck," Harry snorted.

Barry smiled lightly. "The night my mother died, the night that I saw Thawne kill my mom, I saw myself. I didn't know it at the time, but it was myself that was fighting him that night. Because Thawne had come back to kill me that night, the future version of myself went back to stop him. And because of that, it created the timeline where I met Oliver here in Star City. Had Thawne not gone back in time, I wouldn't have become the Flash until a few years from now rather than being him for about four years."

"What does Savitar have to do with that?" Felicity asked.

"Savitar _is _that version of me. The original one. Another timeline opened when I went into Flashpoint and that's the timeline we're living in now. But in the Speed Force Prison, I watched Savitar's life as it should have been over and over again. It messed me up when I came out of the prison. And when that happened, I released a wave of dark matter at the same time. The only way I could come out was if they used a quark sphere that held my signatures in it to take its place. That's why the Speed Force hasn't collapsed since I've been gone."

"So what happened to Savitar?" Felicity asked. "He was in there with you…you were watching his life." Barry reached up and gestured toward his temple. Felicity's eyes widened behind her glasses. "You mean he's in your head?"

"Ugh and I thought all of the regular science stuff you try to explain to me was hard to understand," Diggle commented. He gestured toward Ralph with his thumb. "I don't understand _that _either. But how's he in your head?"

"Because _he's me_," Barry explained. He paused, scratching at the back of his head. "I mean, he's what I could have become. But because he's traveled through time and there was another timeline that came from that night _and_ me making Flashpoint, he's just become another one of my doppelgangers. When you mind-meld with a doppelganger, you take on their memories and experiences. After a while it's hard to differentiate between the two."

"Barry," Conner pointed out. "You're bleeding."

Reaching up, Barry touched the blood that was starting to drip from his nose. He sighed lightly. The last time that'd happened, it was when Savitar's and Earth-2 Barry's memories had slammed into his brain and his brain had to go into overtime to rework his memories to make them fit. He'd blacked out and woke up a half hour later in the Medical Bay with a strange looking helmet on his head—he thought it was Garrick's repurposed for Caitlin to use as a conductor. Though often they used it to Vibe off of.

As time went on, just speaking about it seemed to do something to trigger at least a nosebleed. He'd gotten used to it then, even finding his nose bleeding if he ran too hard too fast rather than building up to a nice even pace. It was like everything was starting to fall apart the more he worked to figure out who DeVoe was and what he was planning.

And, maybe, that was DeVoe's plan.

* * *

Cadence closed the door to the Heat Locker and perched on the bench. She brought her legs up and crossed them so that her feet were resting on either thigh. She took in a deep breath, allowing all the stress to move away from her shoulders and back muscles.

Fully relaxed.

Within seconds, the inside of the Heart Locker was engulfed in flames as she completely let go. Let go of the control she always had to hold to even so something as small as lighting the wick of a candle. The fire brimmed and swirled around the heat locker, increasing in brightness as the seconds pass.

With her eyes closed, Cadence saw none of it but the darkness of her eyes. Slowly, very slowly, the darkness started to take on the light orange-red of the flames that flickered around her. Grew brighter and brighter until she felt herself falling into the light, a contrast to the darkness she'd fallen through before.

Finally, she stopped falling and landed on the platform that looked like stained glass that she'd fallen onto before. The previous time, she'd been on the brink of death, fighting against Breathtaker. This time she was able to control it. Had spent the time that Barry was in the Speed Force figuring out how to tap into the Fire Fall whenever the time came.

Last time, her movements through the darkness that surrounded the Fire Fall were sluggish, this time it was as if the thick waters of darkness were waved away and she could move freely. Almost as if in a dance.

Cadence landed gracefully on the stained glass, landing on her tiptoes before falling to the flats of her feet. Just as it was before, each panel of the stained glass was a single color, coming together to create a rainbow of flames that encircled the platform she stood upon. Each way she turned, the colors would change though continue to hold what appeared to be a fire within each piece of glass itself. A fire that burned alive beneath it. As if the stained glass was alive itself.

Cadence smiled to herself, spinning in a gentle circle to see the flames follow her around as she went. Finally, she tuned her attention into the sound of footsteps that were coming her way. Smiled when she saw Young Cadence walking toward her.

"You wanted to see me?" Young Cadence asked, tilting her head to the side. Her pigtails bobbed at the same time.

"Yes," Cadence replied. "I have a lot of questions."

Young Cadence smiled back. "I have a lot of answers." She looked to the side where a teenaged Cadence seemed to come out of the shadows. "'We both do."

But this Cadence, the teenaged Cadence, wasn't smiling as much as Young Cadence was. She had her arms folded over her chest as she scowled toward Cadence.

Burnout.

* * *

**A/N:** I just realized that we're super close to the Wedding! And Crisis on Earth-X! About time, right? Lol. Anyway, this is probably one of the shortest chapters I've written in any of my Flash stories (other than the prologue for this one) and it's because I'm sooooo tired from the hurricane last night. I barely got _any _sleep because of the constant tornado warnings and the wind and ugh…I'm just glad to get back to a fic I love so much.

So…what did you think of the appearance of Team Arrow once more? I did say it was going to come again at one point and they've finally come back again!

Hope you enjoyed!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **Mayor Bellows was able to bring out the gun because the way they were positioned, Iris and Cadence were covering it so no one else could see. I really needed to change Mayor Bellows' reason to be sent to prison and being someone who is corrupt/really against metas, was one of the biggest lightbulb moments I've had when I realized that's what would tie it all together. And, as well, make things interesting for when Barry goes to prison.

**HotaruKenobi: **Wow! I'm so excited to know you've been binge reading Cadence's series. That's such a complement. And a feat! (I wrote a lot). I'm soooo glad you're enjoying it so much. I really do try my hardest to make sure I keep the essence of a season but also twist it so that there are things that aren't obvious that'll happen, and so it can tell an eve better story. Which is why, sometimes, I'll change the order of things that happen to fit my narrative/my OCs inclusions into the world. I'm glad you enjoy the chemistry that Cade and Brady have with Team Flash. Yeah, Brady was a jerk, but you hit the nail on the head. He was hurt, he's a kid and is trying to understand everything, and he's going through puberty. I hope to update a lot more often now than I have previously. Watching Stargirl and re-reading this series (as well as reading your review) has really helped to push me forward again.


	31. Group Discussion

**30**

* * *

"You're here?" Cadence asked, the words coming out in a breathless whisper. Burnout shrugged in response. Actions spoke louder than words, and her words were saying she was herself but…peaceful?

"All of us come here," Young Cadence said. She practically beamed toward Burnout, who gave a small smile in response. "Now I don't have to be alone."

Cadence looked toward Young Cadence and Burnout. The two parts of her life that were the most different. Young Cadence showed her youthful enthusiasm, her excitement, everything that showed just how much it made sense she eventually ended up becoming a cheerleader. While Burnout, sort of, reminded Cadence of her teenage years. Where she hid how annoyed and angry she'd been at her parents for how much of herself she had to keep a secret. It'd all blown up eventually.

Thankfully, things ended up working out. She couldn't say the same for Burnout. Hearing about Burnout's life made it easier for her to appreciate what she had. If there was anything that made it so that she could see the life she could've given herself, in a way, she was glad Burnout had shown her. A doppelganger with a different life to answer the questions she didn't she had.

And, thankfully, it didn't appear that Burnout held any bad feelings for her. As a matter of face, despite the scowl on her face, she appeared to be more peaceful. Not as happy, but peaceful. There wasn't the hint of malicious villainy in her eyes that made it unclear whether she was going to kill someone within seconds because she felt like it, or toy with them and listen to their screams for hours on end.

"All of us?" Cadence repeated.

Young Cadence nodded, pigtails going along with her nods. "When a Firestart's fire goes out…" She gestured around her. "They go to the Fire Fall."

"All Firestarters come here?" Cadence asked. She thought for a moment, then rephrased her question. "Fire metas?"

Burnout's nose wrinkled, as if she were unsure whether Cadence was being serious. "Firestarters are anyone who has the ability of fire, who have a special relationship with the element." She lifted an eyebrow and added almost deadpan, "I just hope Mick doesn't find his way in here."

"Oh God." Cadence rolled her eyes. "That'd be a disaster. He'd probably burn the place down himself because he could."

Young Cadence shook her head once more. "He can't come in here; this is _your _Fire Fall." She pursed her lips trying to figure out the best way to explain it. "The Fire Fall creates its own reality for each firestarter." She gestured toward the stained glass that stood beneath their feet. "This is tailored especially for you."

"Have you never looked at it before?" Burnout asked.

Cadence shook her head. She lowered her gaze to the stained glass below their feet, starting with a few steps backward. Then she continued going further, the picture coming ore into focus as she went. Step. Step. Step.

She saw a picture of her younger self, seeming to sleep soundly in some sort of bed. Saw a picture of flames that encircled her. Then it morphed into another pictures, as if they were flames themselves, twisting and turning, starting anew. Not burning. The picture morphed to what looked like Burnout, staring out into space, eyes as haunted as ever. Surrounding her were the darkest of flames, morphing from the brightest blues and greens to the darkest, reds and purples. Then the picture changes once more, showing not just herself, but Team Flash.

And not just Team Flash, but when they were fighting against Breathtaker and the gauntlet of villains he'd thrown towards them. There was Flash, Vibe, Shadowhunter, Geo, Magenta, Kid Flash, Jesse Quick, Killer Frost…

Cadence sucked in a breath and stopped walking. She lifted her chin and looked toward her younger and teenage self, seeming to understand what it was they were trying to say. "I died when I was a kid," She murmured. "When I was in the hospital and Harrison—" she cut herself off, closing her eyes at the sudden, sharp pain that stabbed her in the chest. "When _Eobard _gave me my powers. I was supposed to die that night." She already knew that. It was always in the back of her mind. A little niggling thought, making her wonder why her parents had suddenly become _very _protective as she'd grown.

Beforehand, they told her she could do anything, be anything. After that stay in the hospital, they were more careful. Watched her closely. Wondered if there were any side-effects of the stay. Wondered if something bad was going to happen. And there was one, the biggest one. The one they, surprisingly, took in stride when she ran screaming into their bedroom saying she had set her bedding on fire with her mind. They laughed it off until her hysterical sobbing became a transfixed stare, losing control of her powers once more, that then set the flowers on their bedside on fire.

And, somehow, they managed to think that was 'normal' and just a 'family secret that needed to be kept'. Sure, there was the fact that everyone in Metropolis seemed to be transfixed by the strange happenings in neighboring farm town of Smallville with the 'meteor freaks'. But they took it _too _well.

"It was my powers that kept me alive."

"Yes and no," Burnout replied. She exchanged a look with Young Cadence, who lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. Always a woman of few words. "Your powers did help heal you, but it was your spirit that kept you alive. You're destined for great things, Cadence. A future even you're not understanding of yet."

"A future that you understand?" Cadence asked. She clenched her hands into fists. Took a step toward the former part of herself—her younger self—and the biggest part of her—the version she'd mind-melded with. "Why can't you tell me?"

Burnout smirked. "Didn't your husband let you know the dangerous of time travel?" Then she paused and said, "Right, you're the one who's marrying him. There's always crazy things we do for those we love." She shrugged and turned away. "Knowing the future isn't something that would help you right now, Cadence. You'd just dread it like the rest of us." She brushed her hair back from her face. "Do you think I would've lived life the way I did if I knew how it would end?"

Cadence shook her head. "You didn't know how it was going to end."

"And how do you think I would've been if I could?" Burnout shot back. "Even more bitter than I already was? Maybe I would've done more with Brady." She turned her gaze back toward Cadence, watched her for a long moment. Her eyes were almost lizard-like, flickering over Cadence's face, then moving up and down. Watching her closely. Her head tilted and her smirk widened. "But that's not why you came here. You don't have questions about the future. You're curious about the present."

"You said you have a lot of questions," Young Cadence piped up.

"A lot of questions about my powers," Cadence agreed. She chewed her lower lip. "Breathther enhanced my powers—"

"—Breathtaker took out the block you were putting on yourself," Burnout interrupted. Her upper lip curled into a sneer. "You were afraid of your abilities and, instead of embracing it, you allowed your parents to block you. To hold yourself back." Cadence glared. "You could be just as strong as The Flash, even stronger…but you continue to hesitate."

Young Cadence listened quietly, locking her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels.

"If trying to be a good person means I'm hesitating—" Cadence started.

Burnout cut her off again, this time with a loud, mocking laugh. "—Being a good person? We were never meant to be good people. Those with the power of fire are never meant to be good people. We're called Firestarters for a reason! Speedsters are just the opposite of us. Similar in the basis of power, but moving in opposite directions at different speeds."

Cadence closed her mouth. She could feel her body temperature rise. Felt herself, her _real _self, still sitting on the metal bench of the Heat Locker. Could feel herself let out a surge of anger that knocked the limits of the Heat Locker to its straining points. Could hear the roar of fire that made the metal around her scream and strain.

She looked directly at Burnout. "Or you're speaking of your own pain," She remarked. "Of knowing the life you could've lived, had you not allowed yourself to give into the darker side of our powers."

"If you hadn't, you wouldn't have been able to take down Breathtaker. Your powers are stronger than any metas, maybe even stronger than Reverse-Flash's, you had that ability, Breathtaker gave you that chance and you shit all over it. You still do."

Cadence's eyes narrowed. "We already know what'll happen if I lose control."

"Then don't lose control!" Burnout replied. Her words were harsh, but her voice remained almost monotone. The biggest, visible different between herself and her Earth-1 doppelganger. Cadence was lively, enthusiastic, ran on energy and emotion. Burnout's energy and emotion was subdued, almost completely stoic. She watched her fire with a detached air, through eyes that weren't her own, while Cadence watched her fire with excitement and wonder. "You're stronger than that."

"What other questions did you have?" Young Cadence asked.

"What are the extent of firestarters?" Cadence asked. "You said they all have a Fire Fall…what made it so that this place came to be? The Seed Force…" she thought for a moment. "Does every set of powers have a place like the SpeedForce? The Fire Fall?"

Burnout snorted. "I thought you went to school."

"I didn't drop out during high school," Cadence shot back.

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I'm sure your husband has told you that at some point. When he was too busy with his scientific rambling and ideologies." Burnout waved a hand and turned. A wave of sorrow passed over her face, making Cadence wondering if she were thinking about Earth-2 Barry. "There's a reason Breathtaker had the four of you…the four of us as his henchmen. The Four Horsemen. Why he'd chosen us specifically. You're just about to find out why."

"Cade?"

All at once, Cadence was jerked back to the Heat Locker. Her eyes shot open and she took in a sharp breath. Her eyes, glowing orange as the flames continued to run around her, dancing and swirling through the confined space of the only thing that could withstand her fire power. She regained control of her powers, pressing on every muscle, every nerve, every thought within her body to ensure she wouldn't accidentally burn anyone who came through to talk to her.

Finally, she sucked in another calming breath and stood, pushing her way out of the Heat Locker. Jesse reached out and handed her a towel that she immediately took to blot at the sweat that dripped down her face and neck. The body's natural way of cooling down, her ass. It was one of the more annoying things about being a fire meta, sweat everywhere no matter how much she could regulate her own body temperature when working out or allowing herself to release control for the time being.

It was to be said how many clothes she had to throw out because the sweat smell wouldn't go away.

"Thanks." Cadence smiled at her other-Earth half-sister. Then she paused and looked at her almost suspiciously while Jesse took a step back so not to get hit by any flying beads of sweat. Looked a little uncomfortable. A little…familiar. "You met up with my mom, didn't you?" She asked.

"She cornered me!" Jesse burst out, making Cadence laugh. "She was asking if I'd gotten my bridesmaids dress yet—"

"—I haven't even asked anyone to _be _my bridesmaids let alone my maid of honor," Cadence said incredulously. Then she shook her head. Leave it to her mother to be so excited the longer the days passed and the closer the wedding became. But there were things to do, people to save, work things to finish, watching to make sure some assassin wasn't going to jump out and kill her and Brady. That seemed to be a little more important than a wedding. "You fell for that?"

Jesse shrugged. "She said she wanted to get to know me. Because, I'm, technically, her daughter, too." Her face screwed up before she laughed to herself. "And I thought getting together as a 'family' with my dad and Joe and Wally was weird."

Cadence laughed along with her. She draped her towel around her neck. "Also, I…don't think mom gets that our familial line doesn't work that way but… okay." She rolled her eyes. "What do I know about DNA matching between Earths?"

"Our fathers are the most brilliant minds on either Earth and there's still some things we don't know," Jesse said. She folded her arms and gently shook her head. "Your mom is really excited about the wedding."

"No, my mom is really excited about throwing a big party and putting her name on it," Cadence corrected her.

She thought back to her time in the Heat Locker and twisted her mouth to the side with the kick in the gut that her guilt hit her. There were more than enough times she and her father had done their best to make sure she was protected, and no one would know there was anything to her other than being a young girl with excess energy. In many ways, she was grateful to them for it. She saw and feared what happened to those that'd been dubbed "meteor freaks"; sent to Belle Reve.

And, as they said, history was repeating itself. Metahumans were sent to the proverbial noose simply because of a few voices that hated the presence of metahumans. She worried more and more about the future of metahumans, not just for her and Team Flash, but because of everyone they surrounded themselves around. But, especially, because of Mayor Bellows' arrest. It was news that still circulated around the city, adding fuel to the fire.

The news that he wasn't truly with metahumans, that he wasn't truly on the side of the Flash. That he hated metas as much as Lex Luthor, and that he was the one who had tried to ensure that they were eradicated. Iris had done a great job with the article that came out, Cadence had said.

She, Barry, and Brady curled up on the couch, reaching each letter of the article, wondering and worrying if there was any way that it'd come back to them in some way. Their identities being revealed. Anything that would make it so that there would then be more policemen who'd break down their doors and taking them away in the middle of the night. Only to be torn apart and…what? Be prosecuted from the 'normal' people who chanted 'death to metas' daily?

Barry had read the article fifty times by the time that Cadence and Brady had finished. He concurred with Cadence's comment that it was well written. And he'd been relieved to know there was nothing identifying to have things come back to them. But it hadn't stopped them from having an all-night, whispered conversation of what they should do to move forward safely.

"It's your wedding day, Cade," Jesse reminded her.

"Believe me, I can't forget. Everyone around me always wants to talk about it."

"It sounds like you don't want to get married to Barry."

Cadence's eyebrows rose in surprise. Was that how it was all coming across? Her trepidations of it? Her worries of whether it was a good idea to have the public party, the news in all the papers, when it was probably more sense to just elope? She'd floated that idea with Barry and he'd seemed hurt, sure, but understanding? As the days went on, it seemed a better option.

"And you can't," Jesse continued. She grinned. "Not until you have your bachelorette party, anyway."

Cadence smiled. "Why do I have the feeling that that's the only reason why you came back here?"

"And to get to celebrate my beautiful big sister's big day."

"Ha ha." Cadence rolled her eyes. "You know I can tell when everyone's lying." She started walking toward the Cortex with Jesse falling in step alongside her. "You really only care about the bachelorette party." She eyed Jesse closely, bringing her hand up to her chin. "Because…you're trying to get away from your dad."

"I did mention that we were supposed to have a family dinner with Wally, Iris, and Joe, right?" Jesse shook her head. "I don't know, things with my dad…they've been strained for a while. We've been fighting a lot lately."

"Harry Wells, fighting over something? Color me shocked."

"It's just…he's really been trying to help me with my team, but his help is more like taking charge and…" Jesse brought her hands up over her hair. "I really need some time away from him. And from the team and all that mess." She slung her arm around Cadence's shoulder. "So, this party and wedding is the best thing to happen to me." She then pointed to Cadence and herself. "To you, but for me."

Cadence started to say something else but stopped the second that confetti was thrown into her face. She blinked it away, blowing a stray piece off her tongue in enough time to see Iris and Felicity grinning at her. "There you are!" Iris declared. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what? Asphyxiation?" Cadence brushed the confetti out of her hair.

"Okay, I'll admit the confetti might've been a bit much," Felicity said hesitantly. She wrung her fingers together, gently chewing her lower lip. "But it's the thought that counts, right? All that excitement and pizzazz! And…" she motioned toward the balloons gently bobbing behind her. "Balloons."

"Feather boas," Iris agreed, waving the multi-colored neck pieces in the air. Little feathers fell off the aforementioned pieces when she wiggled them back and forth. "Do you want the pink or the blue?"

"Feather's aren't really my thing," Cadence replied carefully. "I think I'm allergic." She eyed the color choices in front of her. "Do they not have orange?"

"Sorry, Miss. Royalty, but they don't have any tiaras," Jesse said with an eye-roll. "We looked. I ran all over the city for that stuff and the best I could come up with were feather boas."

It took a moment for Cadence to figure out what Jesse was saying. "You lured me here?" Jesse smiled smugly. "You little sneak, and here I thought we were having some sisterly-bonding. I should've known you didn't meet up with my mom. She would've bombarded me with texts and sent a SWAT team after me for not responding by now."

"Your mom wouldn't really do that." Felicity laughed. Then she paused, looking around at the unsmiling Cadence, Iris, and Jesse. "She…she wouldn't do that, would she? I mean, not that I know anything about good moms, mine's the _worst_."

"Or you don't know a good one when you have it," Cadence replied.

Iris cleared her throat, stepping forward and in between the two. "Hey, uh, where's Caitlin? We should really get going, right? Can't have a party without all of the Team Flash ladies, huh?" She started toward the Medical Bay while Cadence watched her, unsure of what to say.

Should she stop her and explain that Caitlin had been invited to the party, and was in the running to be the maid-of-honor long before everything with Killer Frost happened? And that, despite how Cadence was allowing her back on the team, that she didn't know if she could truly get over Killer Frost still being a problem? Being a threat? That they were still arguing over whether it was a good idea to have put Ralph in the Pipeline?

She knew the tension was still there when the group wandered to the opening of the Medical Bay, where Caitlin had turned and worked to block what was on the computer screen behind her. Cadence's eyes flickered toward the screen, noticing, as a page was minimized, the logo for the city's biggest airline. She shifted her gaze back to Caitlin, keeping a neutral expression on her face.

As their eyes met, Cadence sense Caitlin's body temperature rise. The bioengineer lowered her chin, quickly licking her lips. Then she lifted her chin once more and put on a small smile as the girls surrounded her.

"Come on, we're about to go party," Felicity insisted, leaning into the doorway behind Iris. The smile on her face was big and bright. "You can put the work down for a minute, right? I mean, Oliver works me like a horse, but even he gives me a break sometimes." There was a light pause around the room as they took in Felicity's innuendo.

Jesse quickly took over the plea. "This is the ladies night to end all ladies nights." She jerked her thumb over toward Iris. "Or, that's what Iris told me to say. I don't think it'll be _that _spectacular but…" she trailed off when Cadence turned her head and gave her a look. "Oh, come on. You know what I meant."

Caitlin chuckled quietly. Then her smiled faded. She dropped her hands to her lap, running one over the other, as if trying to warm a chill that came to her fingers. "If it's okay," She said slowly, her eyes flickering to Cadence's face and away with each word. "I don't think I'm going to make it tonight. I'm just…not feeling up to it."

Cadence's eyes narrowed just slightly. A fraction of an inch. Another lie in such short cadence from the one before. Interesting. _I wonder what she's trying to hide this time? _Nevertheless, she couldn't keep herself from asking, "Are you feeling okay?" with the genuine amount of concern that suddenly hit her.

"I feel fine, I just…" Caitlin's eyes shifted toward her former best friend once more. Something flickered in them that made Cadence frown. "Sometimes life catches up to you, you know?"

If there were something in her words, something she was trying to get across, the moment passed when Iris clasped her hands together and stuck out her lower lip. "Please? Come on, we work together every day. We never get to do a dinner just us girls."

"She's right," Felicity added quickly. "Please?"

Sighing, Caitlin looked to Cadence once more. Looked away. Shrugged. "Wouldn't miss it," she finally said. "When are we leaving?"

"Reservations aren't for a few more hours," Cadence explained. "But if you wanted to go sight-seeing, we can leave right now." A sly smile started to form on her face. "Luckily for you, you've got a teleporter in your midst and so long as you don't let go of me too early, we'll all make it there in one piece."

"Why?" Felicity's eyebrows came together in worried confusion. Eyes shifted back and forth. "Wh-what happens if you let go too early when you teleport? Do you get bounced back or something?"

"Your fingers may get burned off," Cadence said casually. She waved her hand as if waving away an intruding thought. "I don't know for sure; it hasn't exactly happened yet."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Caitlin asked.

Cadence beamed. "We're going to Gotham."

* * *

**A/N: **So, I'm super excited for you all to see what'll happen with the guys in Star City and the girls in Gotham. As you can tell, I'm in the _Girls Night Out _episode, but I'm putting my own twist on them. I really did love the guys' part of that episode, not so much of the girls' part, but that's why I always change some things around whenever I get to certain episodes, lol. I hope you all enjoyed this one!

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**Review Replies**

**Ethan: **I wish the Fire Fall was on screen, it looks amazing in my mind! Lol.

**DarkHelm145: **There's plenty coming up with the Fire Fall, some things are revealed here, but there's a lot more of it coming up!

**Guest: **We're almost there!


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